Cyprus to bill Maccabi Tel Aviv for policing club’s home games

Justice Minister Costas Fitiris confirmed to MPs on Monday that Cyprus has accepted a request to invoice Maccabi Tel Aviv for the policing of its home matches, although no game has yet been played on the island. Responding to questions from the House finance committee, Fitiris acknowledged that the first match had not yet taken place but remarked that “it was possible the second scheduled game would go ahead”. The Israeli basketball club had been expected to stage its Euroleague home game against Real Madrid in Limassol on October 22, yet the match was instead played at the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Belgrade. Cyprus had prepared to host the fixture at the Spyros Kyprianou arena in Limassol after police approved the request earlier this month. A source close to the security arrangements had earlier told the Cyprus Mail that the club asked Euroleague for permission to play its remaining home games in Israel, and that it would move them to Cyprus if that was refused. Maccabi’s next game is at home against Paris Basketball on Thursday October 29. Schedules list the fixture in Belgrade, though it had been planned for Limassol. Other home games had been due in Cyprus against Hapoel Tel Aviv on November 12, Olympiacos on November 17, Dubai Basketball on November 19 and Zalgiris Kaunas on December 15. Between 12 and 15 home games were expected in Limassol, depending on how far the club progressed. Maccabi formally asked Cyprus on September 22 in a letter to President Nikos Christodoulides. Cyprus is understood to have turned down a similar request in June 2025 after police said they could not guarantee safety at such events. Police unions warned the matches would need about 500 officers and called them a “huge additional responsibility” for a force already short of personnel. Police spokesman Vyron Vyronos said, “each game would be judged on its own merits”. Speaking to the Cyprus Mail, a separate police source estimated the policing cost of all the games at more than €1 million. Maccabi has used the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall in Serbia as its home court since the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023.