By Matt Scott
April 7 – Greek government officials ordering the Hellenic Football Federation to reform over corruption and crowd trouble have issued a defiant statement in response to FIFA’s threat to ban Greece from international competitions.
Stavros Kontonis (pictured) is the deputy minister of culture and sports on whose instruction the Greek Cup competition was cancelled last month following fan violence in the semi-final between PAOK Salonika and Olympiacos. On Tuesday FIFA’s Emergency Committee, led by its president Gianni Infantino, sent him a fax warning it of repercussions unless the competition is reinstated – the deadline set is for April 15.
“The FIFA Emergency Committee has decided today to provide the Greek authorities with a new deadline of 15 April 2016 to have the decision to cancel the Greek Cup reversed, failing which the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) would face an automatic suspension,” a FIFA statement read.
The implication is that Greece will join Kuwait and Indonesia as outcasts from the FIFA and confederation structures over so-called “government interference”. Yet 24 hours later Kontonis showed no signs of wavering, instead blaming the HFF for the current uncertainty.
In a statement Kontonis said: “Nine days remain for the federation to continue to exist within the international institutions. I expect the federation to immediately initiate the self-purification process as decided upon in previous meetings, otherwise they will solely be responsible for what lies ahead for Greek football of which they brought it to this point.
“The government’s determination has been expressed by the Prime Minister [Alexis Tsipras] himself for the purification and transparency in football as requested by society, fans, officials and the media. The maladministration problem, opacity and corruption in Greek football is now well known.”
The risk Greece runs of expulsion from FIFA and UEFA carries consequences for Australia, where there is a Hellenic diaspora of 380,000 people. With Greece having failed to make the Euro 2016 finals – after finishing bottom in a qualifying group containing the Faroe Isles – two friendlies have been scheduled in June against the Socceroos in Sydney and Melbourne.
The fixtures are expected to sell out to an aggregate crowd of 130,000. An FFA spokesman told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Football Federation Australia has been advised that the HFF does not expect the current situation to affect the international matches between Australia and Greece in June,” an FFA spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“We have been briefed on the discussions between the HFF and the Greek Government, and we are aware of the role being played by the joint FIFA/UEFA mission. We understand that there is a new deadline set for later this month to find a resolution. In the interim, FFA continues with its planning for the matches in Sydney and Melbourne.”
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