Soccer clubs face prospect of Grexit

Head of FIFA committee says Greek football has ‘reached the edge of the cliff’

Greek soccer clubs are faced with the prospect of being excluded from international competition if authorities do not take action to clamp down on the violent incidents which have marred the game for years, according to Herbert Hubel, the head of the FIFA committee that was formed last year to monitor the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO).

“The Grexit that looked distant is no longer. Greek football reached the edge of the cliff,” he said after meeting in Athens with Deputy Sports Minister Giorgos Vassiliadis and EPO president Evangelos Grammenos.

“This behavior has pushed us to come here to make recommendations,” Hubel said.

The Greek Superleague was suspended indefinitely on Monday, a day after the match between top-flight clubs PAOK and AEK was abandoned when the former’s president, Ivan Savvidis, stormed onto the pitch, with a gun in a holster on his hip, to remonstrate with the referee over a goal by his team that was disallowed.

Savvidis is now faced with a fine of at least 50,000 euros and a ban from entering soccer stadiums of between three to five years, while PAOK could be relegated.

Vassiliadis told reporters after his meeting with Hubel that he explained to international soccer authorities the reasons why the government suspended the league, and said he was awaiting the proposals of the Greek soccer federation and relevant soccer authorities, which will be evaluated to see if the ban can be lifted.