By Paul Nicholson
March 29 – FIFA’s Greek monitoring committee has had enough. The committee set up in July 2017 to monitor the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) is now calling for its suspension with immediate effect.
In a letter sent to FIFA Member Associations Committee chairman Ahmad Ahmad, from Herbert Hubel, chair of the Greek Monitoring Committee (MoCo) on March 27, Hubel says: “Regretfuly, and independently of whether or not the suspension decided by the Deputy Minister of Sport has been lifted, the MoCo is of the opinion that the current situation of greek football with its repeated episodes of violence does not allow the HFF to guarantee a smooth running of the national competitions.
“Against this background, the MoCo urges the FIFA Member Associations Committee to analyse the current situation of the HFF without delay and to refer the case to the FIFA Council for consideration. The MoCo unanimously recommends an immediate suspension of the HFF from FIFA membership.” (Hubel’s bold and underline).
The letter refers to the “armed” pitch invasion of PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis at the end of the PAOK-AEK match on March 12 that led to the suspension of the Greek Superleague, pointing out that this is the second time in the past two years the Greek Superleague “has been suspended for reasons of violence.”
The MoCo say they are of the opinion that the winner of the 2017/18 season “will be decided in the courts and not on the pitch.”
Subsequent to the letter Savvidis has been banned from all football stadiums for three years. He has also been also fined 100,000 euros by the Greek Superleague while PAOK have been docked three points and fined €63,000, ending their title chances.
They will also play their next three home games behind closed doors and start next season with minus two points. Title rivals AEK have been awarded a 3-0 win for the abandoned game, which was level at 0-0 when Savvidis, a Georgia-born businessman and former Russian state Duma deputy, took his action.
The league will resume on Saturday. PAOK say they will appeal the sanction which they described as “harsh” and delivered “under the pressure of a coordinated media storm against PAOK.”
PAOK are refusing to recognise the severity of the situation. FIFA look likely now to exercise their power to force them and the HFF realise it.
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