The latest "hiccup" in Greek-Turkish relations emanated from an unlikely source this week, namely, professaional football. The spontaneous diplomatic row on Monday evening comes resulted in the cancellation of a friendly between Olympiacos Piraeus FC and Turkish power Galatasaray FC, scheduled for Tuesday evening, after the Turkish club's players, coaches and team officials were prevented from entering the country.
Greek public health officials, including the relevant deputy minister, Nikos Hardalias, said members of the Galatasaray delegation refused to undergo PCR or rapid tests at Athens' Elefteriros Venizelos International Airport, upon their arrival on Monday afternoon.
The reason for requesting the new tests, according to the Greek side, is that the latter possessed negative PCR tests conducted over the past 48 and 72 hours, while the foreseen protocol, as posted in English on a Greek state website, requires such a test within the past 24 hours for arrivals from Turkey.
The Turkish club immediately took to social media to decry the refusal of entry, followed by a scathing official announcement, subsequent involvement by Turkish ministers and even the swift arrival of the Turkish ambassador to Greece to the airport, where he was seen sitting next to Galatasaray coach Fatih Terim.
In reply, Hardalias issued his own statement, saying no "discounts" on public health matters will be made and that the implementation of the law is non-negotiable.
The incident, moreover, comes a week after the opposition in Greece and a handful of leftist media accused the specific Greek minister and his ministry's administration of "bending" the rules to allow the Fenerbahçe basketball team and its officials into the country - again through the Athens airport - even though some members showed signs of illness, namely, a fever.
The charges, in fact, claimed communication between Hardalias and airport police officers via non-official mobile phones (i.e. registered to third country nationals), allegations that the government denied.
