Greek govt to water down strict provisions in pro football law; bid to avoid clash with popular club

The center-right Mitsotakis government appeared to be steering clear of a "show down" with northern Greece's most popular football club, PAOK Thessaloniki, over a previous day's ruling, by a semi-independent professional sports committee to hand down penalty envisioning relegation.

Committee members, by a 4 to 1 vote (3 to 2 in terms of the imposed penalty), ruled that PAOK's owners violated Greek Super League rules by owning a share of another first division team, namely, Xanthi FC.

However, on Tuesday the government spokesman said an urgently tabled bill in Parliament will foresee  much laxer penalties in instances of such violations, aimed to avoid "devastating consequences", i.e. relegation.

PAOK, in first place in the Super League standings with a slim lead over second-place Olympiacos FC, is owned by Russian-Greek investor, media owner and former tobacco company tycoon Ivan Savvidis.

The ruling on Monday generated heated reactions by PAOK's management and fans.

Conversely, the spokesman, Stelios Petsas, said PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis on Tuesday called on ruling New Democracy (ND) to expel MEP Thodoris Zagorakis from the party. The latter had expressed support PAOK's position, saying he preferred to back the football club rather than ND if he had to choose between the two.

Zagorakis was a well-known Greek international midfielder who played for PAOK and AEK Athens, among others, and was the captain of the Euro-winning Greek national team in 2004. He was re-elected to the European Parliament under a ND ticket last May.

The decision and a relevant report will be conveyed to a sports judge overseeing Greece’s Super League, who will then issue a final ruling.

Xanthi was also found in violation of rules governing its disclosure of shareholders.