€100k fine and 3-year ban for gun-toting PAOK chief

The owner of Greek Superleague club PAOK has been given a three-year stadium ban and fined 100,000 Euros after carrying a gun on to the pitch during a match with AEK Athens.

Ivan Savvidis had to be held back after he tried to confront the referee when a late goal was allowed then disallowed by officials in the game on 11 March.

The match was suspended with officials calling the fixture a 0-0 draw.

PAOK have also been docked three points and will start next season with a two-point deduction, the Superleague has announced.

The club, who will drop to fourth place in the standings as a result of the sanctions, will also play their next three games behind closed doors and have been issued a separate fine of €63,000.

On 12 March – the day after the PAOK incident – the Greek deputy minister of sport suspended the Greek Superleague and Greek Cup until all first division clubs had signed a declaration condemning violence and undertaken to amend the HFF disciplinary code.

The suspension was lifted earlier this week by the Greek government.

However Fifa’s monitoring committee yesterday sent an open letter to the Fifa Council, referring to “Greek football’s repeated episodes of violence, (which) does not allow the HFF to guarantee a smooth running of the national competitions” and recommending “immediate suspension of the HFF (Greek Football Federation) from Fifa membership”.