Nea Salamina protests refereeing decisions after match against Apollon

Following a 4-2 loss to Apollon on October 17, 2026, Nea Salamina has initiated formal protests against the quality of officiating in the Cypriot first division. The controversy peaked when a potential equalizer by Giouris at 3-3 was disallowed by VAR due to an offside decision. Club president Paris Andreou and board member Elenios Kouklis publicly criticized the league's officiating standards, with Kouklis calling for accountability from officials Phoivos Vakis and Antonio Damato. The team's coach, Angel Lopez, also expressed frustration, noting that this is not an isolated incident, as the club has identified similar officiating issues in four of their six away matches this season.

In response to the perceived bias, Nea Salamina's board of directors held an emergency meeting on October 18. They officially announced plans to file a formal complaint against the referee, Antonis Konstantinidis, and the VAR official, Kyriakos Athanasiou. Furthermore, the club is preparing a comprehensive file of controversial incidents from the first six rounds of the championship to present to international and European football governing bodies. The team also intends to organize an open meeting with supporters to discuss the ongoing situation regarding their treatment by the Cyprus Football Association (KOP).