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Post by rugbytoffee on Mar 12, 2018 9:40:36 GMT
A Greek Super League match between PAOK and AEK Athens was postponed on Sunday after PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis entered the pitch carrying a gun. Savvidis interrupted the match to protest a decision after Fernando Varela's late winner for the hosts was disallowed for offside in the 90th minute. The PAOK owner came onto the field twice accompanied by his bodyguards and on the second occasion appeared to be carrying a gun in a holster on his hip. The Greek-Russian businessman had to be restrained while confronting referee Giorgios Kominis, and the match was subsequently abandoned two hours later with the AEK players refusing to return to the field. Reports in Greece claim Kominis changed his decision to allow the goal for PAOK, and the Greek Super League website currently has the result listed as a 1-0 win for the home side. Should the result stand, PAOK will cut the gap to AEK at the top of the table to just two points. AEK boss Manolo Jimenez appeared to confirm PAOK had been handed the 1-0 win by Kominis. "Right now we are leaving the stadium escorted by the police," Jimenez told OndaCero. The referee has invalidated the goal of PAOK for offside, there was a brawl of players and many people entered the field, including their president with bodyguards. "After the invasion, the referee has gone inside and after two hours wanted to resume. We said no. The shame is that in the end the referee has given them the goal, after all that has happened."
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Post by rugbytoffee on Mar 12, 2018 16:13:22 GMT
Police said earlier Monday they were investigating Savvidis, who holds a gun license, for illegal entry onto the field and for possession of an object that could cause harm in a sporting venue.
Tatyana Gordina, the deputy CEO in charge of corporate communications at Savvidis’ Russia-based Agrocom Group, stressed Savvidis had not made any threatening gestures.
”There were no threats made by Ivan Savvidis, especially not involving the use of a weapon, during yesterday’s match,” she said. ”There was an emotional walk out onto the field, probably a breach of sporting regulations, and nothing more. Most of the headlines in the Greek press exaggerate the facts.”
FIFA criticized Savvidis’ move.
”First of all, FIFA fully condemns such behavior,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement. ”Given that this incident occurred in the context of a national competition, any disciplinary measure to be imposed falls under the jurisdiction of the deciding bodies of the Greek FA.”
European soccer’s governing body also condemned ”the recent incidents in Greek football.” UEFA added that because the incidents ”occurred in a domestic competition, any disciplinary measure to be imposed falls under the jurisdiction of the relevant bodies of the Hellenic Football Federation.”
Vasileiadis, who is Greece’s Deputy Culture and Sports Minister responsible for sports, said Greek sporting authorities were ”in open contact with UEFA” and would be holding meetings with the Greek soccer federation later Monday to discuss further moves.
”The government for the past three years has given great battles to manage to clean up the troubled football sector. We have won a lot, but much more remains to be done,” the minister said. ”In any case, we will not allow all this effort to be endangered, we will not allow phenomena of the past to be resurrected.”
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Post by rugbytoffee on Mar 13, 2018 15:16:02 GMT
Ivan Savvidis, who was pictured carrying a gun in a holster when he marched on to the pitch during a Greek league match, said he is “deeply sorry” for his role in the chaotic scenes that led to PAOK’s game against AEK Athens being abandoned.
The Russian oligarch and PAOK owner intervened following a disallowed PAOK goal in the 89th minute. As a result Greece’s Superleague, which has been blighted by crowd trouble, has been suspended.
“I am deeply sorry for what happened,” Savvidis said in a statement on PAOK’s website. “I had absolutely no right to enter the pitch the way I did. My emotional reaction stems from the widespread negative situations prevailing in Greek football lately and from all the unacceptable, non sports-related events that took place towards the end of the PAOK-AEK Athens encounter: the actions of the referee and his assistant, the match suspension, the protests and invasion on the pitch by many people from both sides.
Greek Superleague suspended after team owner invades pitch with a gun Read more “All that could lead to uncontrollable situations. My only aim was to protect tens of thousands of PAOK fans from provocation, riots and casualties. Please believe I had no intention to engage in a brawl with our opponents or the referees. And I obviously did not threaten anybody.”
Greece’s top division has opposed Superleague’s suspension, saying it threatened the clubs’ existence. The Superleague president, Giorgos Stratos, said: “It creates a grave danger and we are possibly moving away from our aims and objectives. The suspension does not benefit anyone or anything. The suspension cancels out anything positive that has been done. The suspension endangers the entire sport of football beyond the financial consequences.”
Stratos has asked for the “quickest possible resumption” of matches but no date had been decided.
A Thessaloniki prosecutor has ordered a judicial investigation into Sunday’s incidents. theguardian.com
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Post by Avinalaff on Mar 13, 2018 16:29:57 GMT
Why suspend all games though?
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Post by rugbytoffee on Mar 15, 2018 1:31:10 GMT
PAOK Salonika president Ivan Savvides on Wednesday faced disciplinary charges that could lead to a lengthy stadium ban and a points deduction for his team, as world soccer's governing body Fifa warned Greece to act or face suspension.
The Georgia-born businessman's pitch invasion with what appeared to be a gun in his belt on Sunday triggered a suspension of football matches in Greece with Fifa urging the country for immediate action.
In a brief statement, the Greek football federation said Savvides had been charged with a series of football code violations, including making threats, which carry a fine and a potential stadium ban of up to five years.
The top division Superleague's disciplinary body will now be responsible for any further action, a league official said.
Savvides' team could also be punished with points deduction which could put them out of the running for the title which they were competing for before Sunday's match.
The charges were announced minutes before Herbert Huebel, who heads a monitoring committee set up by Fifa last year for Greek football, warned Greece to act or risk a potential soccer 'Grexit'.
"What happened in Greek football, to be very polite, is unacceptable," Huebel said after meeting Deputy Culture and Sport minister Georgios Vassiliadis and federation officials.
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