Cisse ready to quit Greek soccer after derby loss
Panathinaikos striker Djibril Cisse has suggested that he will leave Greece this summer after his team were beaten 2-1 by fierce rival Olympiakos on Saturday in a controversial game that ended with the Frenchman and some of his teammates being attacked by Reds fans.
The Greens were enraged by sevearl refereeing decisions they felt denied them victory at the Karaiskakis Stadium and a chance of retaining the Super League title they won last season.
Cisse he told journalists after the game that he has lost his patience with questionable refereeing in Greece.
?I will make my decisions but believe me, I?ve had it up to here,? he said. ?Make the most of being able to see me because these are my last months in Greece because I can?t go on under these conditions.?
There are still seven games to go in the Super League but with Panathinaikos 10 points behind Olympiakos after Saturday?s defeat, there is little chance of the Greens catching the Piraeus club.
Cisse suggested that Panathinaikos should have won the derby and were only denied by the referee Dimitris Kalopoulos?s decision to disallow what seemed a legitimate Panathinaikos goal for offside and to allow a questionable Olympiakos goal in the 91st minute to stand.
?We should have won today?s game but there was one person who decided that we shouldn?t,? said the Super League?s top scorer.
His Brazilian teammate, Gilberto Silva, labelled the referee?s performance a ?disgrace? and, like Cisse, suggested that Olympiakos is consistently favoured by match officials.
?For the sake of Greek sport, I hope this situation changes soon,? said the former Arsenal player.
The controversial decisions and the late manner of Olympiakos?s victory ? Rafik Djebbour scored the winner in the first minute of injury time ? meant that the pre-match peace, aided by a heavy police presence, was shattered as soon as the game ended.
Dozens of Olympiakos fans invaded the pitch and, amid the celebrations, several of them aimed kicks and punches at Panathinaikos players. There were also reports of a confrontation between some Greens players and Olympiakos captain Vassilis Torosidis, who was sent off in the closing stages for headbutting PAO?s Sebastian Leto.
Cisse reportedly exchanged angry words with Olympiakos owner Vangelis Marinakis in the changing rooms. The shipping tycoon hinted at the incident in his post-match statement.
?I didn?t see Cisse suffering, I saw him saying that he wanted to leave Greece,? said Marinakis, who then made reference to the fact that the Frenchman had appeared at a function earlier in the week wearing a skirt.
?If he wants to leave, without his skirts and blouses, let him go.?
The Olympiakos owner also rejected Panathinaikos?s complaints about the referee?s decisions and denied suggestions that opposition players had been attacked.
?Our fans came onto the pitch to celebrate,? he said. ?It?s logical that when a team is 10 points ahead in the league and beats Panathinaikos in this way.
?I didn?t see anyone hit a Panathinaikos player. If I see this [in video footage] later, I will condemn it. What matters, though, is that the best team is going to win the championship, the rest is just small talk.?
The Olympiakos owner?s words are unlikely to be the last following one of the most controversial derby matches of recent times in Greek soccer.
