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Government Ban of Football Cup Puts Greek Teams at Risk of Expulsion from International Competitions

c2a39f08-d298-4363-bd03-55dd32abcb70In an unprecedented move, the Greek government suspended the Football Cup after violence erupted during Wednesday’s semi-final between PAOK Thessaloniki and Olympiacos.
The decision puts at risk the participation of Greek clubs in European and international competitions as FIFA and UEFA regulations call for independence of a country’s football authority.
The decision was taken after Deputy Minister of Sports, Stavros Kontonis conferred with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras over the issue. In a statement, the government commented that the referee’s decision to overlook regulations over the suspension of the game is questionable and underlined that strict criteria must be in place when referees are appointed in critical games.
Furthermore, the government noted that the game reflects the Hellenic Football Federation’s (EPO) inability to take the necessary actions to prevent such instances of football violence.
The referee stopped the game in the 86th minute after overlooking a penalty against Olympiacos. Angered PAOK fans threw flares and several of them invaded the pitch clashing with riot police.
PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis was pleased with the government’s decision to suspend the cup and will pressure towards the suspension of the Super League championship as well. Savvidis claims that EPO is corrupt and asked for foreign referees for next season’s games.
Olympiacos responded that the decision to suspend the cup will “in no case effectively address the serious phenomena of violence” and underlines that this decision essentially “equates victims and victimizers”, affecting teams and fans who had nothing to do with the violence caused by PAOK fans.
Olympiacos comments that the decision to suspend the cup only benefits PAOK, since it will mean that the Thessaloniki-based team will secure a spot in next season’s European competitions, at the expense of other teams participating in the cup.
As a further precaution measure, Kontonis decided to postpone for at least 30 days Sunday’s game between Heracles and Olympiacos at Thessaloniki claiming the tense atmosphere in the city and the fact that most police will be allocated to refugee-flooded Idomeni, thereby unable to sufficiently police the game.
EPO has notified UEFA and FIFA of the arbitrary actions of the deputy sports minister that go against international football regulations. The state intervention to the independent football authority may force FIFA to kick Greek clubs out of European and international competitions, including the national team.

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