Greek club owner banned for three years after carrying gun onto pitch
The owner of Greek Superleague club PAOK has been given a three-year stadium ban and fined €100,000 after carrying a gun onto the pitch during a match with AEK Athens.
Ivan Savvidis had to be held back after he tried to confront the referee when a late goal was allowed then disallowed by officials in the game on March 11.
The match was suspended with officials calling the fixture a 0-0 draw.
PAOK have also been docked three points and will start next season with a two-point deduction, the Superleague has announced.
The club, who will drop to fourth place in the standings as a result of the sanctions, will also play their next three games behind closed doors and have been issued a separate fine of €63,000.
FIFA's monitoring committee later on Thursday sent an open letter to the FIFA Council, in which it recommended an "immediate suspension of the HFF (Greek Football Federation) from FIFA membership".
On March 12 - the day after the PAOK incident - the Greek deputy minister of sport suspended the Greek Superleague and Greek Cup until all first division clubs had signed a declaration condemning violence and undertaken to amend the HFF disciplinary code.
The suspension was lifted earlier this week by the Greek government.
However, the MoCo's letter read: "Regretfully, and independently of whether or not the suspension decided by the deputy minister of sport has been lifted, the MoCo is of the opinion that the current situation of Greek football, which its repeated episodes of violence, does not allow the HFF to guarantee a smooth running of the national competitions.
"Against this background, the MoCo urges the FIFA member associations committee to analyse the current situation of the HFF without delay and to refere the case to the FIFA Council for consideration. The MoCo unanimously recommends an immediate suspension of the HFF from FIFA membership."
