Those who believed that the barrel had hit bottom received a resounding rebuttal when a meeting called by Steve Bennett to make joint decisions on arbitration cases in the remaining 9 matches playoffsin the presence of their president EPO Takis Baltaku and Giannis Alafuzu, Dimitris Melissanidis, Vangelis Marinakis, Ivan Savvidis (via teleconference – he was in Russia), Achillea Beu and Vice President Ari Takis Biliris as Theodoros Karipidis was absent from the US.

And only the phrase “all the shit is collected”, said to some journalists by the president of Olympiacos and Superleague it was enough to herald a sequel. The meeting lasted almost four hours, the voices and facial expressions of the sidewalks were heard throughout the street, and its final testified to the absolute collapse that Greek football is experiencing: Olympiakos vice-president Kostas Karapapas left the hall, returned with … a skirt and threw it into Baltaco by saying “put it on when you go out, see if it fits him”…

From whatever statements were made at the end, the conclusion is that everyone agreed that … they disagree, as emphasized by the vice-presidents of AJC and PAOK, G. Kosmas and M. Gagatzis, respectively. Shortly before graduation, there was hope that a joint letter would be signed to be sent to international institutions with a request to facilitate efforts to find experts judges of the “elite” levelbut disagreements arose on the part of Olympiacos over certain wordings and asterisks, which ultimately prevented a common line from existing.

Alafouzos: UEFA informed me that only “elite” referees cannot come. However, we do not accept referees like Dabanovich.

Mr Marinakis insisted on recommending professional arbitration with “keys” to Mr Clattenberg or someone else, with the recommendation that by then the former Chief Justice of England should select foreign judges of his choice, some of whom had already been contacted . His proposal met with strong reactions from Panathinaikos, PAOK and AEK, with Mr. Melissanidis characteristically saying: “Where and where is Clattenberg? You left Mata Hari next to him to do whatever you want with him!

Mr. Bennett’s revelation, given by Mr. Gagatsis, was shocking: “Mr. Savvidis mentioned that the only institutional body that can attract foreign referees is the CUD, not the team and not the league. We had a shocking complaint from Mr. Bennett who showed us on screen a message from a foreign referee, without giving his name, who offered to come to the Olympiacos v PAOK match next Wednesday! When Mr. Bennet told him that he had found the judges, he expressed a desire to change them and come himself! An investigation has already been launched into the case. UEFA.

Giannis Alafouzos has made his position clear. “I went to UEFA and they told me that only “elite” referees could not come. But we do not accept such judges as Dabanovich! The situation is dire, and we must do something to keep it from getting worse. In the era of VAR, it is impossible to make obvious mistakes. We demand equality. Referees from underdeveloped football countries should be excluded from the game and should be chosen from the top 10 leagues, even if they are in the A’ division. It is necessary to ask for help from UEFA-FIFA both to find and protect the referees who will come,” the president of Panathinaikos emphasized and left due to a business trip, leaving Leonidas Boutsikaris as a representative.

Mr. Baltakos will raise this issue today on the occasion of a meeting he had (on a different issue) with UEFA representatives in Geneva.