FIFA invite four club owners to important meeting in Switzerland

The owners of AEK, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK have been invited to a meeting by FIFA and UEFA, as the governing bodies search for a way forward for Greek football.

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Recently, a meeting was held in Switzerland between FIFA, UEFA, Evangelos Grammenos (President of the Hellenic Football Federation) and Lefteris Avgenakis (Deputy Minister of Sport), with the recent events at the Karaiskakis Stadium being unanimously condemned. A group of Olympiacos fans tried to attack PAOK players as the visitors arrived for a headline Super League derby in Piraeus.

Olympiacos had already received a two-match stadium ban for the incident.

After the meeting ended, FIFA released an official statement, confirming that foreign referees will continue to take charge of all major derbies involving AEK, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK. No Greek referee has worked at a Super League derby involving the above mentioned clubs since the controversial 2017/2018 season ended.

In its press-release, FIFA confirmed that it continues to fully support the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO), but the organisation also revealed that it “requires the cooperation of all of the main figures in Greek football” if progress is to be made.

FIFA subsequently invited Dimitris Melissanidis (AEK), Evangelos Marinakis (Olympiacos), Giannis Alafouzos (Panathinaikos) and Ivan Savvidis (PAOK) to a joint meeting on Swiss territory during the first half of January 2020. Both FIFA and UEFA are eager for the four club owners to come together and make a group effort to improve the state of the Greek game.

It remains to be seen if the four do decide to hold a meeting in Switzerland. 

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: sportfm.gr

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