Giorgos Koumas

Cypriot football administrator

George Koumas

FIFA Council and UEFA Executive member
Incumbent
Assumed office 2010
12th President of CFA
Incumbent
Assumed office March 2018
Preceded by	Costakis Koutsokoumnis

Personal details
Born	(1962-11-24) 24 November 1962 (age 61) Paralimi, Cyprus
Occupation	Member, FIFA Council and UEFA

George Koumas (born 24 November 1962) is a Cypriot football administrator and member of FIFA council.

In March 2018, he was elected president of the Cyprus Football Association.^[1]^[2] In 2023, he was re-elected for another four years.^[3]

Background

Koumas was born in Paralimni, Cyprus. He studied business and hotel management, and joined a business related to sports tourism and television licensing. He served as president of Enosis Neon Paralimini president in 2005. He was deputy secretary of the Cyprus Football Association and deputy president of Cyprus Football Association, and an executive committee member in UEFA until 2019, and member of the FIFA council in 2019.^[4]^[5]^[6]

Controversies

In 2018, Cypriot website ToThemaOnline accused Koumas of secretly owning several companies registered in Seychelles and the British Virgin Islands, which Cypriot semi-governmental organisation CYTA allegedly bought television rights from. This is said to have taken place while Koumas held the Deputy President position at the CFA.^[7]

In 2022, then leader of football of Olympiakos Nicosia, Christoforos Tornaritis made various heavy accusations against Koumas, claiming the CFA choose who they want to be relegated and who they want to win the league every year.^[8]^[9]^[10] Tornaritis was later fined for his statements.^[11]

In April 2022, a major sports website in Cyprus, 24sports accused Koumas of corruption and called for him to resign as president of the CFA.^[12]

In June 2023, Koumas denied allegations that his group concealed UEFA red notices regarding match fixing.^[13]

On 27 September 2023, the Sports Ethics Committee in Cyprus found that Koumas has a conflict of interest as he owns several companies which trade football broadcasting rights. According to the Cypriot law, an individual cannot hold an official position in sports when they have vested business interests in the sport they are serving.^[14]

References

^ FIFA.com. "FIFA Council Members". www.fifa.com. Archived from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
^ March, Sports·18; Read, 2018··2 Min (2018-03-18). "George Koumas: President of the KOP until 2023 (images)". Famagusta News. Retrieved 2020-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ UEFA.com (2023-07-11). "Koumas continues at the helm in Cyprus | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ UEFA.com (2017-04-05). "George Koumas | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
^ "George Koumas elected as President of CFA". www.cfa.com.cy. Retrieved 2020-05-19.
^ Sports·February 14; Read, 2018··1 Min (2018-02-14). "Appointment of George Koumas in the Champions League!". Famagusta News. Retrieved 2020-05-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
^ "Έκλεισε τον φάκελο του Κούμα η Αστυνομία –Οι εταιρείες του σε Σεϋχέλλες και BVI με τα συμβόλαια εκατομμυρίων -ΕΓΓΡΑΦΑ". tothemaonline.com (in Greek). Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ Solutions, BDigital Web. "Τορναρίτης: "Ο Κούμας κατέστρεψε το κυπριακό ποδόσφαιρο από τις ρίζες του"". 24sports.com.cy. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ Solutions, BDigital Web. "Τορναρίτης: Προανήγγειλε αποκαλύψεις για εκατομμύρια ευρώ, κατάκτηση τίτλου, υποβιβασμούς και άλλα". 24sports.com.cy. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ Solutions, BDigital Web. "Τορναρίτης: "Τα λεφτά από τα πρόστιμα μοιράζονται σε κουμπαράτα του Κούμα"". 24sports.com.cy. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ "Πληρώνουν τις δηλώσεις τους Τορναρίτης και "Καραβίδας" – "Έβρεξε" πρόστιμα | Goal News Cy". goal.philenews.com (in Greek). 2022-04-13. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ Solutions, BDigital Web. "Παρέμβαση: Κ. Κούμα παραιτηθείτε. Μέχρις εδώ ήταν". 24sports.com.cy. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ Solutions, BDigital Web. "CFA president talks trouble in soccer paradise". knews.com.cy. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
^ "CFA President Koumas has conflict of interest in trading TV rights -probe". in-cyprus.philenews.com. 2023-09-27. Retrieved 2023-09-27.