Unless you piggybacked on Nasa’s New Horizons to Pluto, it has been impossible of late to avoid news about the ongoing crisis in Greece.Words like referendum, bailout and Grexit’ have dominated headlines this summer, in the UK and Europe.
Given its economy could collapse at any moment, Greece probably has more important things to worry about than the parallel crisis that has engulfed football in the country in recent months. Yet, the scandal to have hit the Greek game is as good a barometer as any of just how big a mess the cradle of democracy is in.
Dozens of the most senior figures in football in Greece stand accused of what would be, if proven, arguably the most serious match-fixing crimes ever committed.
Among those in the dock are the former president of the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF), Giorgos Sarris, and the current owner of Olympiacos, Evangelos Marinakis. As well as being accused of forming a criminal gang to control the game in Greece, Marinakis is alleged to have ordered the bombing of a bakery owned by one referee who refused to do the organisation’s bidding.
Many of those accused have already either been banned from any football activity or from leaving the country – or both. All deny any wrongdoing.
There are striking similarities between the Greek scandal and that which emerged four years ago in Turkey and resulted in Uefa banning Fenerbahce from the Champions League for the past two seasons. Comparisons are inevitable, therefore, between the handling of the two sagas by an organisation that boasts a "zero-tolerance" approach to match-fixing.
Uefa confirmed two weeks ago that Olympiacos would take their place in next season’s Champions League group stage – where they could face any one of Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester City – pending the outcome of investigations in Greece. In one respect, that tallies with what happened to Fenerbahce, who were not banned by Uefa until criminal proceedings in Turkey concluded.
However, there is a major difference between the Turkish case and that of the Greek champions. Prior to being punished by Uefa, the Istanbul giants served a one-year European suspension imposed by the Turkish Football Federation. That was after the TFF was warned by Uefa’s general secretary, Gianni Infantino, that failure to withdraw the club could see them banned for eight years at the outcome of any Uefa disciplinary process.
Uefa declined to comment this week when asked if the HFF had been given the same warning by Infantino, and, if not, why not. It also did not respond to a request to confirm whether Infantino’s deputy, Theodore Theodoridis, had recused himself from any discussions or decisions about the handling of the Olympiacos case.
Theodoridis’s father, Savvas, is vice-president of the club and attended a plea hearing last month at which Marinakis was ordered to pay €200,000 (£141,053) bail. Theodoridis Jnr was also an HFF board member for 11 years before joining Uefa in 2008, while his father and Marinakis were found not guilty in February – before the current case – of influencing referees during Olympiacos’s 2013 Greek Cup final against Asteras Tripolis.
Like Olympiacos, Asteras – the second biggest club implicated in the ongoing scandal – were admitted into European competition next season by Uefa, where they could face Liverpool or Tottenham Hotspur in the group stages of the Europa League.
In his only public comment on the matter, Infantino said two weeks ago: "Our bodies, our disciplinary bodies, have shown that they are very firm when it comes to match-fixing. If there is any evidence, they will take this into account and will take measures."
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