http://www.goal.com/en/news/117/greece/ ... t-official
ps. I took the liberty of highlighting some key parts.
Aris Attack Greek Football's 'Corrupt Establishment' & Want Officials Sacked
It's another broadside on the state of Greek football.
Thessaloniki club Aris have launched a stinging attack on the state of Greek football, labelling the establishment as “corrupt” and calling for the sacking of three match officials.
In the wake of their 2-1 loss away against Olympiakos, an official statement was released on the Aris website blasting the state of the game in Greece.
It included accusations of corruption and an attack on the monopolisation of the league by defending champions Olympiakos, who look set to win their 12th Greek title in 13 years; they have lost only one match this season and have maintained a perfect home record.
Face Of Corruption
The Piraeus giants extended their lead at the top of the Greek Super League table to 14 points with a home win over Aris on Sunday, the visitors having midfielder Vitolo sent off for two bookable offences.
That was before Olympiakos scored their second goal courtesy of a rather soft penalty awarded by referee Nathaniel Charalabidis, sparking scenes of disbelief amongst the Aris players, who surrounded the official.
Luciano Galletti missed his spot-kick before eventually scoring from what appeared to be an offside position, though no protests from the players were forthcoming.
In an official statement on the Aris website, the club said the performance of the officials on Saturday was representative of wider problems facing the Greek game.
“[At] the Giorgios Karaiskakis Stadium, with the officiating of Charalabidis, [Christos] Gennaios and [Ioannis] Stamatoglou [linesmen] the mask was dropped and face of the corrupt establishment was more clearly shown,” the statement read.
“The latest act of this comedy called Greek football has come to confirm everything that Aris has been trying to denounce in recent years.”
Specific mention was also made of Charalabidis and Gennaios, pointing to the performance of the former in a league match against Atromitos last year and the latter in the Greek Cup exit at the hands of PAOK this season.
Demand For Change
The statement continued by calling for three key changes, including an end to the promotion of referees to international standards and the “grading” of their performances (a job carried out by the Central Committee of Refereeing – KED) in an attempt to prevent them from losing their posts.
The second call was for the sacking of the three match officials (Charalabidis, Gennaios and Stamatoglou) who presided over the Olympiakos match; third was for KED to dismiss “incompetent and dangerous” officials.
Familiar Story
Historically, Greek football has never been too distant from accusations of corruption and power struggles, with former Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) president Vassilis Gagatsis having resigned from his post in December, amidst accusations of fraud and the illegal funding of football clubs.
A former legal advisor of Olympiakos, Gagatsis' name was the subject of a perpetual Calciopoli-like link with the club that was never proven.
Olympiakos were targeted in the statement by Aris, the Thessaloniki club claiming that a culture had been established in Greece whereby its most successful team “doesn’t believe that there can be failure within a game.”
Conspiracy Theory
Aris also suggested that Olympiakos’ involvement in the “officiating slaughter” was part of a wider plan to assert their power over the league and monopolise their participation in European competitions, with a view to reducing the financial strength of competing clubs.
It doesn’t mark the first time Aris have attacked the Greek football establishment either, club president Lambros Skordas having levelled similar criticism at the ‘Big Three’ of Greek football – AEK Athens, Panathinaikos and Olympiakos - following Gagatsis’ resignation last year.
However, with Sofoklis Pilavios having been elected the new president of the EPO, there does appear to be some hope for the change demanded by the Thessaloniki club.
Their statement concluded, “We expect the new president of the EPO, whom we surround with confidence, to confirm our conclusions.”
A Brief History
In its 71-year history, the Greek league has only ever been won by a team outside of Athens six times: Aris have thrice been champions (1928, '32, '46), PAOK twice ('76, '86) and Larissa once ('88).
In terms of financial strength, the inequality between the Athenian giants and the rest of the domestic scene has worsened with the monopolisation of participation in European competitions in recent years, particularly with the increased financial windfall provided by the UEFA Champions League and television rights.
, talk about conceding the season again, come one of the little teams knock these bunch of scrubbers out of 2nd spot and let them find something new to complain about.