Despite suspension, Greece struggling to tame soccer bosses

Some say the legendary exploits of Alexander the Great are needed to cure Greek soccer of its violence and disorder. Others are hoping for a Herculean effort to fix the problem.

Short of that, however, Greek soccer remains mired in chaos.

The latest trouble occurred over the weekend, when the owner of PAOK Thessaloniki ran onto the field with a holstered gun on his belt to confront the referee and complain about a disallowed goal.

Ivan Savvidis, the Russian-Greek businessman who owns PAOK, didn’t use the gun on Sunday, but his actions led to yet another league suspension and prompted Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to evoke a famous legend about the conquests of Alexander the Great.

“At some point, we have to decide to cut the Gordian Knot, take collective action, and ignore the political consequences,” Tsipras said, referring to a simple solution for an intractable problem.

In the meantime, the government decided to indefinitely stop league matches following Sunday’s turmoil. In the potential title decider between PAOK and AEK Athens, a late goal was disallowed, leading to the uproar involving Savvidis and his foray onto the field in anger.

Savvidis apologized Tuesday for his “emotional” reaction, while a Thessaloniki prosecutor ordered a judicial investigation into the incident. The probe will also examine why police allegedly ignored instructions from a prosecutor on duty at the match to arrest Savvidis on the spot.

FIFA strongly condemned the violence and sent a delegation to Athens for talks as the country faced the threat of suspension from international competition.

The league suspension is the latest attempt by a government to rein in Greek soccer’s powerful bosses, who have far-reaching interests in infrastructure, shipping, gambling, and the news media, and who operate against a backdrop of habitual fan violence and allegations of corruption riddled through the sport.