The Kangaroo court of Greek football is alive and well.

 The Kangaroo court of Greek football is alive and well.

By George



Well, the decision has been laid down. Panathinaikos wins 3-0 by default and Olympiakos lose a point and play 2 matches behind closed doors.


It won’t end there as this will be appealed and the appeal will be appealed till every legal avenue has been exhausted. And then they’ll probably still try find some loophole to appeal the appeal.


Rinse and repeat. 


By the way. I support Olympiakos so you may think I’m biased…. It’s okay. Greek football has made us all cynical… and to a point hypocritical too. 


So what have we learnt from this? 


Absolutely nothing.


PAO fans point to the years other clubs specifically Olympiakos have won games in this manner and now they feel like it’s their turn to benefit from it. They aren’t wrong I guess but what does it do for the betterment of the game? How do we grow the game when we make these decisions? 


Will clubs take ownership of historical issues in the stands? Is it their fault? Will the government along with EPO take a stand and look to create tough security measures in place to combat an issue that manifests itself at football matches..


Who will pay for that?


The kangaroo court of justice we see in Greek football is alive and well. This ruling now regardless of how it went or how it will end will only create more animosity within club owners and fans when the game should be looking at ways of improving its standing in world football.


Why do we see our neighbours leagues have huge derbies with no fan violence? What are we doing wrong in Greece where again the fans will he screaming “paper champions” for the season? 


So… will the game in Greece draw a line in the sand and create a ruling that ensures clubs aren’t punished by fan stupidity in this manner or will they do the old see no evil hear no evil speak no evil and wait for the next karagiozi moment to happen.


Which leads me to this. If this incident happened between two lesser clubs running on a tiny budget in the Gamma Ethniki what would the outcome be? Would it be the same? Would they both be willing to pay thousand of euros in legal fees? Would the game continue on? 


It’s the inconsistency that’s consistently killing any good momentum we build in Greece.


For the first time in a long time we have 4 clubs competing for the title, all 4 are in European competitions too, we have brand new stadiums and new stadiums being built. 


We are seeing great football being played. Things are positive so let’s hope that the owners of clubs find common ground on these issues and that we also see our governing body get more involved in eradicating these issues otherwise that kangaroo court will destroy the game for good. 


And the sad part of that is there’s people out there who want that and would celebrate the anarchy.


We can’t let them win.


Hellas Football 


Follow @cbb_george

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