No solution in sight for Super League chaos
The chaos continues. Originally, the 2018/2019 Super League fixtures were supposed to be released on Monday, but the draw process was suspended and there is no solution in sight for the many problems which exist. AGONAsport investigates further.
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Following a 2017/2018 season full of scandals, court cases and financial problems, the last thing the Super League organisation needed was a disrupted start to the upcoming campaign. Unfortunately, the worst case scenario has occurred. The 2018/2019 season is due to begin on August 25, but so far there is no match schedule, seven clubs are without broadcasting contracts and no one seems willing to find a compromise in order to put an end to the mess.
Let’s take a closer look at the issues which are preventing the 2018/2019 Super League from running smoothly:
- Deputy Greek Minister for Culture and Sport George Vassiliadis proposed taking the Super League participant list down to 12 next year, however clubs objected. In the end, Vassiliadis agreed to have 14 clubs competing in the 2019/2020 season, but the Super League and Vassiliadis are still at loggerheads and the spat is ongoing.
- Assuming that the amount of Super League clubs will be cut from 16 to 14 in summer 2019, the teams placed 16th and 15th in the 2018/2019 season will be demoted immediately, but the clubs in 14th and 13th will play against the 1st and 2nd placed teams of the Football League in relegation/promotion playoffs. According to information, the Football League are against this option.
- Broadcasting contracts. At this moment in time, seven Super League clubs (Panathinaikos, Aris, Atromitos, Xanthi, Panetolikos, Apollon Smyrnis, Lamia) are still without television deals for the 2018/2019 season and if nothing changes, these teams will refuse to let the campaign start.
Is there any hope of somehow creating a positive prognosis? On August 9, another Super League Board of Directors meeting will take place, in which they will have a second attempt at putting together the fixtures for the 2018/2019 season. Nevertheless, for that to happen, the 16 clubs in the championship must all have a broadcasting contract.
Panathinaikos and Aris are edging towards sealing deals with Nova, but the outlook for the remaining five teams is rather uncertain. This week, Vassiliadis is expected to meet with the Super League again and discuss the current state of play.
Right now, it’s highly unlikely that the campaign will start on August 25, meaning that the start date will be put back to either September 1 or September 15 (the Greek national team play against Estonia and Hungary in the UEFA Nations League on September 8 and 11).
