UEFA general secretary in Greece amid sport law spat
UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino is in Greece meeting lawmakers and sporting officials to try to end a dispute that could trigger the country’s international suspension.
Infantino met Wednesday with members of the parliament committee who are debating a soccer anti-violence law that UEFA says interferes with the independence of the sport’s administration.
The government’s deputy minister for sport, Stavros Kontonis, and the chairman of the Greek Football Association, Giorgos Girtzikis, were also present.
Greece’s top league has been suspended three times this season because of crowd violence and an attack on a senior referee, and a high-level judicial investigation is probing alleged corruption in the sport.
The draft law is due to be voted on next week.
The confrontation and possible suspension dubbed in the local news media as a “football Grexit” has added pressure on Greece’s new left-wing government, which is struggling to avoid bankruptcy in troubled negotiations with bailout lenders.
Kontonis has said the government is willing to make amendments to the draft law.
The opposition conservatives have called for the bill to be withdrawn for consultation and re-introduced after the current season ends.
Olympiakos has already won the Greek league title with 74 points after 32 matches, 12 clear of second-place Panathinaikos with two games remaining. [AP]
