OFI claim innocence after match-fixing sentence
OFI have stumbled across murky waters again, as the Cretan organisation face relegation after being found guilty of match-fixing during the 2017/2018 Football League season.
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As previously reported on AGONAsport, the Hellenic Football Federation’s Ethics Committee found OFI and Aiginiakos guilty of fixing a 2017/2018 Football League match between the two teams, in which the Cretan side claimed a 6:0 victory. Subject to an appeal, both clubs have been punished with relegation, however OFI are adamant they weren’t involved in fixing the match in question on November 12, 2017.
In a recent interview with the Greek media, OFI vice-president Georgios Samaras revealed that the Cretans should drop 20 divisions if there is proof that someone representing the club did fix the game with Aiginiakos: “I don’t know if they have evidence to prove that we’re guilty. However, if they manage to prove that someone from OFI is guilty of this offence, we should drop down 10 or 20 divisions. Let’s see what happens when we make our appeal. OFI represents the island of Crete, our children and our future. I am responsible for the administration side of things here, and we are committed to our project. Our actions will not have an effect on the team.”
OFI Chief Executive Officer Ilias Poursanidis gave a press-conference on Tuesday, stating that an appeal against the decision will be submitted on Friday: “This is not a final decision. The claims are not true and OFI FC will do everything possible to justify this. We have the required people ready to represent us. Our appeal has been put together and it will be submitted on Friday.
We have confidence in our legal department, and we’ll push for justice. We aren’t thinking negatively. Initially, we were shocked by the announcement, but when you calm your emotions down, you can manage the situation. We don’t want the championship to stop, we have other means of sorting this out. Did I request for a foreign referee to take charge of our match against Levadiakos in the 25th Super League round? Yes. We don’t want to leave anything to chance. It’s important to play that match as if we were going for the championship. We’re waiting for a response from the Refereeing Department. If we do end up being relegated, we will come back.”
OFI will do everything possible in order to overturn the decision. In the event that their first appeal isn’t successful, they will then take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and the process promises to be a long, drawn out one. At the moment, OFI are languishing in the relegation zone of the Super League, sitting in 15th place with 18 points in 23 matches. OFI will play Apollon Smyrnis in Rizoupoli on Sunday.
