The Deputy Minister of Sport Stavros Kontonis announced the suspension of football games in the Super League, the country’s highest football league, for a week in order to “combat violence in the courts and implement the law”.
After meeting with the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and the presidents of the football federation and leagues on Wednesday, Mr. Kontonis decided to suspend games in the top tier football league for a week. It has not yet been determined whether the suspension will continue afterwards.
Mr. Kontonis announced that “the decision of the government and the Prime Minister to tackle violence is final and irrevocable. The government will not take one step back. We will not tolerate business interests that are developing in an unacceptable way in the sports sector”.
He added that it was a “miracle” that nobody was killed on Sunday’s derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos and stressed the need to implement legislation on fan clubs and electronic tickets. He conceded that the legal framework is “fragmented and nonexistent”, but vowed to support it.
