Panachaiki must pay, or pay for it
World soccer’s governing body FIFA on Tuesday sent a letter to the Greek Football Association (EPO) asking for first-division side Panachaiki to be relegated if it fails to pay off a debt to a Cypriot team. EPO said FIFA General Secretary Urs Linsi requested they punish Panachaiki as it owes AEK Larnaca 177,196 euros plus 10 percent interest for the transfer of Lazaros Iakovou three years ago. «We wish to state our great disappointment toward the Greek club because it did not respect the contract between the two teams… We have no other choice but to enforce Article 3, signed by both clubs,» Linsi said in the letter to EPO. Linsi called on EPO for Panachaiki to be demoted to a lower division in the next season, should the team fail to pay off the debt. Panachaiki is currently bottom in the Greek League’s top division and a prime candidate for relegation into the second division. If it fails to pay its debt to the Cypriot club, it could find itself going straight to the third division. Panachaiki is not the only Greek team to be threatened by FIFA with relegation. AEK and PAOK have also been cited for their failure to pay parts of transfer fees or contracts. They have reached agreement in a couple of cases to pay in installments. (AFP, Kathimerini)
