Refereeing is the talk before derby
Much of the pre-match news ahead of this Sunday’s clash between perennial rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos at Karaiskaki Stadium is being dominated by an unconventional and potentially risky initiative: the release of a DVD, by the Panathinaikos club, containing what its administration believes are a series of refereeing errors committed so far this season. It gives analysis regarding the impact of these decisions on the league’s standings. In all, the release, in the form of a formal public complaint by the club, claims that Panathinaikos has been deprived of 11 match points this season as a result of various errors by the men in black. The DVD also contains alleged refereeing errors that have proven favorable for Panathinaikos. «This initiative was taken with the aim of underlining the real refereeing problem in Greek soccer, especially the treatment of Panathinaikos by referees,» the DVD notes in its introduction. Panathinaikos, currently in third place nine points behind Olympiakos, has been overshadowed by its Piraeus rival in domestic competition over the past decade or so. Olympiakos has won eight of the last nine league titles. Panathinaikos, which managed to break the title streak a couple of seasons ago, has, however, fared better than its rival in the Champions League. Released yesterday, just four days ahead of Sunday’s clash, the DVD includes excerpts from the previous league encounter between the two clubs earlier this season, in the opening round in fact, when Olympiakos earned a valuable 2-0 away win. The level of mistrust and suspicion of referees in Greek soccer has traditionally stood at high levels. In the local media, it is not uncommon for referee selections ahead of big games to be treated as major sports news items. Earlier this week, the referee drawn for this Sunday’s derby made major sports news. In the past, during the military dictatorship (1967-74) and right through the ’70s, league officials occasionally imported referees for big games to eradicate the distrust. Once during this period, a Bulgarian referee was brought in to preside over a second-division, relegation-battle match in the season’s final round of play. League officials were concerned, as a draw would have sufficed for either side. As had been suspected, the opponents ended with a draw, at 0-0, to avoid relegation. But, despite the game’s dry score, there was some sensational late-game drama. A defender, attempting to pass back to his goalkeeper, accidentally lobbed over the goalie. With the ball floating toward the net, a striker of the rival club rushed in to intercept with a header and send the ball wide. Returning to the DVD, Victor Mitropoulos, the vice president of EPAE, the local association of professional soccer clubs, condemned the initiative taken by Panathinaikos and apparently returned the package sent to him. At Olympiakos, star player Rivaldo is racing against time to be fully fit for Sunday. The Brazilian abandoned play during last weekend’s match against Ionikos after being troubled by a minor leg injury and has struggled to shake it off throughout the week. Should Rivaldo be made available to coach Trond Sollied, the Norwegian will have to decide whether to field the player despite his lack of practice this week. At yesterday’s session, the Brazilian appeared to be recovering. The 34-year-old Brazilian is not the only injury woe for Sollied ahead of Sunday’s match, in which victory would give defending champion Olympiakos a seemingly unassailable 12-point lead in this season’s title race. Central defenders Gabriel Schurrer and Michalis Katsis may also miss, which would force Sollied to reshuffle his defense. As a preventive measure, Schurrer missed training yesterday because of a virus. Kapsis pulled out of yesterday’s training session after feeling lower-back pains. Whether he will be fit for Sunday’s encounter remains unknown. Local reports published yesterday anticipated that the defensive pair would probably be ready but, under the prevailing conditions, Sollied could not afford to neglect alternative options for his defense.
