Putting a face to the Calciopoulos voices
The prosecutor investigating the ”Calciopoulos” match-fixing scandal is hoping to get a better picture of the affair dogging Greek soccer after reports suggested on March 14 that besides the CDs containing audio material there are DVDs, too, that contain precious footage of behind-the-scenes dealings.
According to a number of newspaper reports, the original recordings that prominent lawyer Alexis Kougias presented on March 9 and incriminate Olympiakos Piraeus president Vangelis Marinakis and Olympiakos Volou owner Achilleas Beos were made using a hidden camera.
The material was reportedly recorded at an office that served as the ”headquarters” of the network that allegedly controlled football referees, and unnamed sources suggest that there are DVDs that add pictures to the audio unveiled by Kougias.
The audio of the recorded material was edited into the CDs that Kougias reportedly submitted to the prosecutor investigating the scandal.
The same reports add that prosecutor Constantinos Simitzoglou is aware of the video tapes’ existence and is trying to secure them for the benefit of the investigation.
Kougias has also claimed there is a third CD containing even more significant revelations, allegedly from a taped telephone conversation.
Also on March 14, former referee Sotiris Vorgias, who was among those to blow the whistle on the Greek answer to Italy’s Calciopoli scandal, spoke of a second match official who has suffered pressure from the same ring, after Giorgos Daloukas.
He said Beos paid a visit to that official on September 29, 2009 and threatened him, but Vorgias did not explain why.
A Greek radio station identified that match official as Spyros Papadakos, a former ref who at the time was a member of the Central Refereeing Commission (KED).
Vorgias further alleged that Hellenic Football Federation president Sofoklis Pilavios met with Daloukas after the latter testified to the prosecutor on March 11 and that some people are promising Daloukas a post with the national team in order to stop him from giving names.
On March 15 the Super League is having an extraordinary general meeting in view of the scandal. The league of the top-flight clubs issued a special invitation to General Secretary for Sports Panos Bitsaxis and Pilavios to attend the meeting, but they both declined.
Also on March 15, Beos is expected to sue Kougias and former Panathinaikos president Nikolas Pateras, accusing the latter of being the mastermind behind the recordings and the editing of the CDs, which have been published on the Internet.
