Referees suspended in Greece

The Greek Referees Committee evaluated the performance of the referees of the first two matchdays of the Super League played between 25 August and 3 September 2018. In addition to the positive performances, unfortunately there have been some inadequate performance levels that caused the extreme disappointment of the Central Referees Committee.

There have been serious efforts and investments by KED and the Hellenic Football Federation during the pre-season seminar for the referees and assistant referees of the Super League, including theoretical and practical sessions, fitness tests and many other specialized know-how parameters, directly related to the demand for top level refereeing. Performance that is not responsive to this high level preparation is not acceptable and will not be tolerated by the Referees Committee. In this spirit, various measures have been taken concerning match officials. An assistant referee has been removed from the appointments and the decision is immediately applicable until further evaluation, while the duration of the suspension of three other referees will be evaluated within days. Other strictly internal measures are also taken.

The Hellenic Football Federation will never change their strategy and will never stop reforming the refereeing, serving the interest of football in Greece. Of course, the results cannot be achieved in a short time, but the HFF has the full support of FIFA and UEFA for the continuation of the whole process. In this climate, the detrimental comments, beyond any limit, by some representatives of certain clubs that interfere with the absolute autonomy and independence of refereeing are unacceptable. Under these circumstances, the Referees Committee asked the Hellenic Football Federation to take further action to stop unnecessary tensions and protect football.

Source: EPO