Weekend Derbies Showcase Worse Aspects of Greek Football

Weekend Derbies Showcase Worse Aspects of Greek Football


Two blockbuster derbies and two major talking points, unfortunately occurrences which are all too familiar in Greek football.

Aris became the first team to beat PAOK this season in an action-packed Macedonian derby. The football was good, the atmosphere was just as good. PAOK have not reached their full potential so far this season and a rampant Aris took full advantage. The hosts started the season slowly but are finding form.

However, news emerged that a 28 year old Bulgarian man had passed away after the match. He was present at the Kleanthis Vikelidis as a fan of Botev Plovdiv, who enjoy a good relationship with Aris fans, in particular Super 3. This is common in the football culture in southern Europe. According to reports, a group of 15-20 PAOK fans confronted the man, who was in a smaller group. He was then run over by a car a day after the match itself.

As someone who loves most things associated with Greek football ultras, this is unacceptable and another blight on the League, even though the clubs and most honest, hard-working fans are powerless to stop the perpetrators. Who knows what goes through their heads? Unfortunately we are left talking about fan violence after derbies all too often. Go to the stadium, support the team, chant loud and proud, light flares, stand shoulder-to-shoulder with your mates. It is a way of life, but enough with these antics and mob mentality attacking anyone in rival colours.

A day later, Olympiakos edged Panathinaikos in the most controversial derby of the season yet. The latest clash of the Derby of the Eternal Enemies, took place in front of an empty Georgios Karaiskakis stadium, as the hosts were serving a punishment for fan trouble of their own in their last derby against PAOK. Fans play a vital role in the outcome of derbies in the Greek football landscape due to their sheer passion. It represented a huge opportunity for a Panathinaikos outfit finding its feet.

To their credit, the Greens were strong in the battle, highly physical and fought for every ball. The team was set up nicely and kept the hosts at bay. A goal was ruled out for offisde (a correct call), but two stonewall penalties getting waved away cannot be ignored. VAR thought they were penalties, but alarmingly, Finnish referee Mattias Gestranius thought otherwise. The evidence is damning...

Giannis Bouzoukis and Federico Macheda were stepped on inside the box in either half, with the former taking to social media to voice his dissatisfaction. Bouzoukis posted a photo on Instagram, while Christos Donis did likewise with the caption "Happy New Year, we continue with the same things", referring to the poor officiating that has hampered Greek football over the years. It only adds fuel to the fire that Olympiakos get the rub of the green when it comes to refereeing decisions.

If they had lost that match in those circumstances, what would be the odds of their club calling for the League to be suspended?

Fan violence and poor officiating - two issues that have significantly hampered the progress of Greek football, both on show in two big derbies a day apart. There is so much 'good' in Greek football but have we failed to properly address these two glaring issues?

Hellas Football

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 10 Chants in Greek Football

Image
Top 10 Chants in Greek Football By Nick Tsambouniaris, Greek ultras are known around the world for their passionate support. Atmospheres at games are electric to say the least as fans act as the 12 th man for their team. Here are my top 10 chants in Greek football with a hyperlink to the YouTube video of them being belted out in full glory. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN This cheeky party starter aimed at Olympiakos from AEK’s Original 21 makes it as number 10. As you can see in the below link, every single fan is jumping and singing along with purpose, making for a great atmosphere. 10. AEK – RE BIN LADEN 9. PAOK – IRTHAME SKASTOI APO TIN KLINIKI Gate 4 of PAOK are notoriously known for creating an intimidating atmosphere wherever they go. This particular chant gets extra points for its climax ending when the fans rise from the ground as one jumping all over the place. The chant itself is also funny and sums up the passion of Greek football fans in general as it says they
Read more

The Panathinaikos - Croatian Connection

Image
The Panathinaikos - Croatian Connection By: Antonios Theodosis Athenian based club Panathinaikos is a part of the “big four” of Greece, and like their rivals, Panathinaikos have seen their fair share of foreign talent come in through the ranks. In my last article, I covered the connection Panathinaikos had with players from Argentina and the success many of the Argentine’s brought to the club. For the Panathinaikos faithful, the connection does not stop with Argentinian players. The Greens have also seen their fair share of notable Croatian players come in through the ranks and help bring success to the club. Some of these notable players are: Velemir Zajec, Mario Galinovic, Goran Vlaovic, Mladen Petric, Gordan Schildenfeld, and Danijel Pranjic - with the latter granting me the opportunity to answer some questions I had regarding the Panathinaikos - Croatian connection. However, the connection does not stop with the players. Gate Thirteen, Panathinaikos’ ultras fan group hav
Read more

The Current State Of Football On Greece’s Biggest Island - Crete

Image
The Current State Of Football On Greece’s Biggest Island - Crete By Alexander Koutakos On this journey, we have travelled so far to the Greek provinces of Laconia, Messinia and Western Macedonia.  This week, we continue to journey around Greece on Greece’s biggest island (Crete).  Crete is home to the cities/large towns of Heraklion, Chania, Rethymno, Ierapetra and many others. Historically, Crete has been mass producing footballing talent for the Ethniki Omada and for the global footballing world.  The island of Crete itself has produced the footballing talents of Georgios Samaras, Giorgos Giakoumakis, Nikos Machlas, Michalis Sifakis, Petros Marinakis and many others. The “big 4” teams in Crete at the moment are OFI , Ergotelis, Chania and OF Ierapetra. In this article, I will be going over the current situation for each of the four aforementioned Cretan clubs and I will then be going over the current situation of youth development across the entire region. The Current State Of OFI (H
Read more