PAO pays maximum price for riots
Panathinaikos will pay the maximum penalty for the riots that led to the abandonment of last Sunday?s league derby with Olympiakos, as it will have points deducted from this and next season, home games behind closed doors and a hefty fine to pay.
The Super League?s Disciplinary Committee decided late on Thursday to award the match to Olympiakos with a 3-0 score and deduct three points from this season?s championship from Panathinaikos as well as two from next season.
This means that Olympiakos now has a 10-point lead at the top of the Super League with just five games left to play. It therefore needs just five points to be crowned champion for the second consecutive season.
The Disciplinary Committee also decided that Panathinaikos will have to play four home games behind closed doors and pay a fine of 252,500 euros.
Consequently the Greens will have to play their three remaining home matches in the regular season against Aris, Panionios and Panetolikos, plus the first home game in the playoffs without fans.
Panathinaikos can appeal the decision, but will also have to foot the bill for the damage caused to the Olympic Stadium on Sunday.
The decision came out just before midnight on Thursday, probably for fear of a violent reaction by the Panathinaikos fans who were watching the club?s basketball match against Maccabi Tel Aviv at the Olympic Sports Hall on Thursday evening.
