No matter how many years pass, there are always stories in football that seem invented. And then there is what is happening in Cyprus, where one team celebrates becoming national champions… at the same time as another team with the same name celebrates promotion to the same division.
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Yes, you read that right. Omonia won the 22nd championship in its history this weekend, beating rival APOEL 3-0 and ending the season at the top of Cypriot football. So far, everything is normal for one of the country’s historic giants.
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The unusual detail comes from the second division. Omonia 29M also secured promotion to the first league. In other words: next season there will be two Omonias in the Cypriot top flight. One enters as current champion. The other recently promoted and probably just looking to survive among the elite.
It seems like a mistake. But it’s very real. To understand this story, it is necessary to go back to 2018. That year, Omonia’s management decided to privatize the club and hand over management of the football team to the American-Cypriot businessman Stavros Papastavrou. A decision that went down very badly with some fans, especially Gate 9, the club’s ultra group.
For these fans, Omonia had lost its soul. On the very day of the announcement — May 29, 2018 — a new club was born. It was first called Omonia 1948, but ended up changing to Omonia 29M for legal reasons. The 29M remained as a tribute to the date of its foundation.
Read more in football news. and related tags: OMONOIA FC, Stavros Papastavrou.