Analysis of the officiating decision in the Apollon vs APOEL match

During the Apollon vs APOEL semi-final match, referee Mohamed Al-Hakim initially issued a direct red card to Apollon player Escriche for a strike on Dalsio of APOEL in the 68th minute. Following a VAR review, the referee changed the decision to a yellow card. Former international referee and analyst Giannakis Kyprianidis publicly disagreed with this outcome. Kyprianidis argued that the VAR intervention was unnecessary and misleading because it provided slow-motion footage rather than a full view of the incident. He maintained that the player’s intention to strike the opponent in the neck and chest area warranted a red card regardless of the specific point of impact. In the same commentary, Kyprianidis also defended the validity of the goals scored by Pafos in their match against AEL, noting that there were no fouls involved. The refereeing process remains a subject of debate among sports analysts in Cyprus.