Waging war against the federation and referees
Athens soccer club Panathinaikos issued a stinging statement yesterday, accusing the Hellenic Football Federation (HFF) and its referee committee (KED) of unbalanced conduct in their duties. The club is accusing the soccer authorities of double standards, especially regarding the referees who officiated the team’s matches and were not punished for their allegedly poor performance, unlike those at AEK’s match against Iraklis who received a four-match suspension on Wednesday. «We consider this behavior, both by the head of KED and the president of HFF, as hostile toward Panathinaikos. Our club is striving for a league that will be played on equal terms and is determined on the pitch by the efforts of players and managers. Any mentality against that will find us directly opposed to it,» the statement read. This came after another attack on Panathinaikos and AEK by a high-level Olympiakos official, Savvas Theodoridis, who accused the champion’s title rivals of trying to divert fans’ attention and affect future refereeing decisions. Separately, within a few hours yesterday, PAOK fans bought up all 10,000 tickets for the big Thessaloniki derby against Aris on Sunday. There will be no Aris fans at the Toumba ground.
