By Matt Scott
May 25 – Greece will not be thrown out of international football, clearing the way for the national team to continue qualification for Euro 2016 and, for now at least, Olympiacos to take their place in next season’s Champions League.
The decision was confirmed in a letter jointly signed by the general secretaries of FIFA and UEFA, Jérôme Valcke and Gianni Infantino respectively, that was sent by fax to the Greek minister for sport, Stavros Kontonis, on Wednesday.
There had been a strong risk of expulsion from the international-football community after the government took “emergency measures for the confrontation of violence in sports and other provisions”. The international football authorities considered this to be a potential breach of their statutes governing governmental interference in the administration of football.
However, following FIFA and UEFA pressure, the government amended a number of proposed articles in its parliamentary bill and Wednesday’s joint-signatory fax confirmed their satisfaction with the final draft.
“We can confirm that the final version of the law appears to take into account the proposals previously made by FIFA and UEFA,” it read. “At the same time, and for the avoidance of doubt, we would reiterate that any further attempt to undermine the rightful competences of the Hellenic Football Federation will be met with strong resistance by both FIFA and UEFA.”
That is standard for all governments who under FIFA and UEFA statutes must at all times allow national authorities to run their own affairs independently. However, the implications of what that will mean in future has particular resonance in Greece, where a number of senior former members of the HFF are under investigation for alleged involvement in a crime ring that is accused of routinely fixing Greek Super League matches.
Also accused under the current criminal inquiry is Olympiacos’s owner, Vangelis Mariniakis, who is additionally accused of incitement to extortion, bribery and arranging a bombing that endangered human life. Although he is set to appear before magistrates next month to enter a plea to formal charges, the HFF has yet to take any disciplinary action involving Marinakis or his club.
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