By Andrew Warshaw
March 24 – Greek football authorities are digging in their heels and refusing to budge despite receiving a letter signed jointly by FIFA and UEFA urging them to reinstate the national cup competition, scrapped by the government earlier this month because of crowd trouble, or risk being thrown out of international football.
Greece’s deputy sports minister says he will not reverse the decision to impose new legislation despite an April 1 ultimatum from the game’s two main governing bodies.
Under the planned move, the Greek government would have the right to impose fines ranging from €10,000 to €25 million for violent incidents, order the postponement or cancellation of sporting events and even prohibit teams from playing in European competition.
However, the legislation would breach FIFA and UEFA rules on government interference in football and failure to meet the April 1 deadline could result in clubs being barred from playing in European competitions and the national side thrown out of international tournaments.
Deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis (pictured) said his government would not be threatened into submission, however.
“I hope it is understood that the Greek government has no intention of altering the decision to cancel the Greek Cup competition due to its exhaustive efforts in trying to protect basic social rights such as public order and social peace,” he said.
“We declare yet again that the Greek government fully respects the self-governing function of sports federations and is not intervening in the administration, nor on issues related to sports.”
The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) has appealed to the Council of State, which will hear the case on March 29 but Kontonis added: “The cancellation of the Greek Cup is another preventive measure designed to protect public safety, which although particularly serious, is not a punitive measure, and the law actually provides the further step of suspending or cancelling the championship, if it is necessary. We would like to stress that the government will fully respect the decision which will be made by the supreme court of the country.”
He rejected FIFA’s suggestion that his decision was “disproportionate” and that less severe measures could have been applied, such as playing matches behind closed doors.
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