- A soccer game in Europe was abandoned when a club president stormed onto the pitch with a gun strapped to his hip.
- The PAOK FC president was seething at an offside decision and tried to confront the referee.
- The Greek Superleague match against AEK Athens was officially abandoned.
- The Greek government has now made the extraordinary decision to suspend all soccer in the Superleague.
An entire Greek soccer league has been suspended indefinitely because a club official interrupted a game with a gun strapped to his hip on Sunday.
A Greek Superleague match between PAOK FC and AEK Athens was precariously poised at 0-0 when an 89th minute goal was ruled offside. If the goal had stood, PAOK could have gone on to win the match and move within two points of league leaders AEK.
PAOK president Ivan Savvidis seethed at the decision and reportedly told his players to leave the pitch, according to BBC Sport.
He then “marched” toward the referee while a gun was strapped to his hip, but was held back by bodyguards.
You can see the gun right here:
Some AEK Athens players left the pitch out of concern for their own safety, according to the BBC.
FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, is “aware” of the incident, BBC Sport reports. It said it “fully condemns such behaviour” but would not able to discipline the club and/or Savvidis as that is under the “jurisdiction of the Greek FA.”
However, the Greek government took the extraordinary move to suspend the Superleague until further notice following a meeting between Greek prime minister Alexis Tsipras and deputy sports minister George Vassiliadis on Monday.
Greek publication Sport 24 says Vassiliadis will make a statement on Monday where he will reveal more details about the suspension, and why this measure was taken.
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