Haris Loizides was on Tuesday elected as the Cyprus Football Association’s new chairman, replacing the outgoing Giorgos Koumas.

Speaking after being elected to the role, he described the day as a “new beginning”, and said he hopes to “change the image” of the CFA, “building a relationship of trust both with football clubs and society”.

He spoke of an “action plan” on “two strategic axes”, the first of which regards the “institutional and functional modernisation of the association”.

To achieve this, he said, the CFA will appoint a chief executive officer, “redistribute responsibilities”, create committees with “measurable goals”, redesign the CFA’s strategy regarding Cyprus’ national team, and “strengthen Cypriot footballers through targeted development programmes”.

In addition, he said, he will commence a “structured dialogue with football clubs” with the aim of “modernising” Cyprus’ football league system and introduce term limits for CFA chairpeople in the future.

The second axis, he said, is the improvement of the CFA’s image and a new aim to “build trust with society”.

He said that to achieve this, the CFA will redesign its press office “to enhance accountability and transparency”, engage in “strategic partnerships” with the government, local authorities, and social groups, and undertake actions to prevent and address violence at sports venues.

“We serve the whole and not the individual. Football only progresses with cooperation, composure, and institutional cohesion,” he said.

He then pleaded for time to implement his proposed reforms.

“When the time comes, judge us strictly and fairly.”

Loizides’ current term in office will expire at the end of the 2026/27 season.

Born in 1963, he studied business finance at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom, and has been involved in the CFA’s administration for 20 years, having been first appointed as Apoel’s representative on the CFA’s board in 2005.

His predecessor, Giorgos Koumas, stepped down at the beginning of the month after the legal service had ordered an independent criminal investigator to carry out a probe into “suspicious activities” carried out by high-ranking CFA officials.

This investigation came off the back of a report written by the sports ethics committee, which accused him of having “competing interests”, having investigated suspected manipulation of sports events, including other offences.

Meanwhile, he had been accused, among other things, of having created an “unfair advantage” for some clubs by way of manipulating the money paid to them as part of television rights deals.

“Teams received money in violation of agreements … in such a way as to create an unfair advantage in favour of some clubs,” journalist Fanis Makrides reported in 2023.

This includes an accusation that money paid to the CFA by CytaVision for television rights to domestic Cypriot football matches “was distributed by the CFA, in time and quantity, according to the will of Giorgos Koumas”.

“It is also noted that he received CytaVision’s millions from the television agreements and sponsorship on behalf of the teams and distributed them as he wanted,” the accusations state. “There were occasions where CytaVision money was given on the instructions of [Koumas] in violation of the agreements made with the clubs,” Makrides’ report said.

In addition, Koumas was accused of having granted a bonus of €200,000 to one club “without reasonable cause”, and that this bonus was granted while the club in question was participating in games surrounded by “suspicious betting activity”.

Upon his resignation at the beginning of the month, he said he wanted to protect the sport.

“The sport must stop being attacked because of me. And above all, football should be left out of personal attacks and conflicts,” he said, adding that “I did my utmost for the good of football and the good of my country”.