Police probe embezzlement claims against Anorthosis chief

Andreas Panteli, the president of Cypriot league side Anorthosis, was on Friday at the centre of a police investigation into embezzlement allegations after fellow board members took the extraordinary step in filing a complaint against him.

“Nobody is going to be victimised but nobody has the right to cover anything up,” Cyprus police chief Iacovos Papacostas told the Cyprus News Agency.

“We can confirm that at this stage an accusation was made on behalf of a group from the executive board who claimed certain things and the suspect is the president of Anorthosis.”

The probe comes less than 48 hours after Anorthosis drew with Werder Bremen 2-2 in the Champions League after letting slip a two-goal lead.

Board member Antonis Demetriou told reporters that Panteli was accused of financial impropriety, because he claimed “hundreds of thousand of euros have gone from the club without justification”.

According to state radio the sum involved is estimated to exceed one million euros.

In a statement earlier on Friday, Panteli said he was “shocked and surprised” by the whispering campaign against him and that he had “nothing to hide”.

He said in the five years since taking over the Cyprus champions there was “never a problem with financial management and the accounts were always audited with full knowledge of the board”.

Moreover, the businessman hoped that the revelations would not have a negative effect on the team's progress in Europe's premier club tournament.

Team manager Temuri Ketsbaia told a local radio station that he stood by the club president.

Minnows Anorthosis Famagusta lie third in Group D and a win away to Panathinaikos in Athens next month would secure an unlikely berth in the last 16.

So far in the competition they have only lost once in five starts.