Justice wades into Greece’s soccer swamp
Corruption and violence, the two defining characteristics of Greek soccer, were placed under judicial investigation yesterday, as more revelations emerged about the sordid dealings behind the scenes. A Piraeus prosecutor yesterday launched an investigation after a Sunday television show, hosted by muck-raking journalist Makis Triandafyllopoulos, presented telephone conversations between club officials and referees detailing bribes and other operations designed to influence the outcome of matches. The investigation will also focus on wiretapping, by which the conversations were obtained. In another case, an Athens prosecutor yesterday charged Panathinaikos President Angelos Philippidis, coach Sergio Markarian, Markarian’s assistant and interpreter Gabriel Molnar and team physiotherapist Christos Karvounidis, for insulting «in word and deed» referee Makis Efthymiadis, following the Panathinaikos-Olympiakos match on March 23. Karvounidis has additionally been charged with assault and grave bodily harm. Unnamed fans of both teams were charged with throwing flares and other objects at each other and onto the pitch. The evidence presented by Triandafyllopoulos on Alpha Channel on Sunday mostly implicated Panathinaikos. Lambros Maris, a vice president of the Association of Professional Football Clubs (EPAE) was heard discussing how PAOK players ought to be shown yellow cards in a game against OFI so as to miss a match against Panathinaikos. Panathinaikos’s 5-2 away win, during the previous season, was instrumental in assuring the Athens club second place, and a spot in the lucrative Champions League competition. Other participants in the phone conversations included Thomas Mitropoulos, a former Olympiakos official and often accused – along with brother Victor, a former EPAE president – of being among the main agents of corruption; Yiannis Spathas, the president of the Association of Piraeus referees; Xanthi President Christos Panopoulos, who had once sent a paid advertisement to newspapers, calling for an anti-corruption drive and who was heard discussing the different rates for bribing referees and linesmen. Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos called for a full investigation of misdeeds in soccer.
