Greece’s Parliament passed the new bill about implementing urgent measures to tackle violence in sports. However, according to Greek Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis a few changes had to be made to Article 15 which finally passed with a strong majority, as well as to the highly disputed Article 5. At the moment the Greek minister is expecting to hear from the international sports federations, FIFA and UEFA, about whether the law intervenes with self-rule football regulation, in order to reach their decision on whether Greece will be expelled from the international football organizations. In particular, UEFA’s legal staff are waiting to read the final wording of the articles, which changed during the Parliament meeting. Furthermore, the bill’s Article 5 on the choice of the regular judges had to be rewritten. UEFA wants to make sure that the Hellenic Football Federation will be able to make their own choices, something that is not clear in the article. “This is a state law and its burden now falls on everyone. I believe that everyone will understand and appreciate their responsibilities,” said Stavros Kontonis after the Greek Parliament meeting. However, Parliament President Zoi Konstantopoulou’s reaction during the vote caused a strong reaction within the Parliament. Specifically, Konstantopoulou abstained from voting the crucial Article 5, which provides for the reconstruction of all disciplinary and judicial football bodies which will henceforth consist of regular judges. The Parliament President voted in favor of all other articles.
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