By Andrew Warshaw
November 19 – Scotland’s former World Cup referee Hugh Dallas (pictured) has stepped down as head of referees in Greece just days after matches were suspended indefinitely following an attack on one of his colleagues.
Dallas was appointed to the role just before the season began and was in charge of appointing referees for matches in the country’s top two divisions after Greek authorities opted to appoint a respected foreign official following several match-fixing scandals.
But Dallas, who officiated at the World Cups in 1998 and 2002, quit the role following a violent attack on Christoforos Zografos, assistant director of Greece’s Central Refereeing Committee (KED) though he will stay on as head of training.
“The KED have accepted the request of Mr. Hugh Dallas to no longer be responsible for the appointments of refereeing officials for Super League and Football League matches,” said a brief media statement. “Mr. Dallas will continue to be responsible for the education and training of referees in both professional categories.”
Police said 45-year-old Zografos was beaten with wooden clubs in the early hours of last Friday by two men on a motorcycle in the Kolonos area of Western Athens. The Hellenic Football Federation immediately postponed games and said it would not appoint referees to any league matches until “immediate steps” were taken to protect officials.
Matches have already been suspended once this season by the government in late September as a mark of respect following the death of a fan after violent clashes at a third division match.
Olympiakos Piraeus president Evangelos Marinakis said he had vital information about the attack on Zografos, a former FIFA referee, and he called on all stakeholders in Greek football to put a stop to violence.
“The police and legal authorities need to look into this in great depth, we must all work together to stop this filth,” he told reporters after a meeting of Super League officials.
“We are talking about human lives here, it’s no longer about an insult, or bitter comments which are said on the radio or television in the heat of the moment; we are talking about a murderous attack on a man who is very lucky to be alive.”
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