Soccer league to resume play
Fearing financial sanctions, the national association of professional soccer clubs (EPAE) voted yesterday to resume play in the Greek League’s top three divisions on Sunday, October 27. Fourteen of the 17 clubs on EPAE’s board of directors voted for the proposal. The three dissenters were first-division clubs AEK, Aegaleo and Proodeftiki. EPAE suspended league matches last month, trying to put pressure on the State to bail out the clubs, after digital pay-TV channel Alpha Digital, which had signed lucrative contracts with most of the clubs, collapsed. The government has refused any form of aid for the clubs, including more money from pools games. The teams are funded through a percentage of the proceeds from the Pro-Po pools game. If they fail to resume play on October 27, state pools and lottery firm OPAP will invoke a clause in its contract with EPAE asking for 7.92 million euros in damages. EPAE said that three rounds of league games would be played, on October 27 and the two subsequent weekends. A decision whether to stop play again will be taken by the association’s general assembly, on October 23.
