By Antonis Anzoletou

In the last cabinet meeting of the year, which takes place today, the prime minister tries to get in on the right foot and lay the foundations for the new year. Two will be the “flagships” for the beginning of 2024. Legislative initiatives to combat violence in stadiums and the establishment of non-state universities. The messages that Kyriakos Mitsotakis will send will be encouraging, asking the heads of the portfolios to stick to their goals.

The new sports law is the big bet for Maximou, as matches will not restart unless all football teams fully comply with the new regulations. Matches will now only start if the HD cameras inside the stadiums are working as set. According to well-informed sources, the cameras will be the responsibility of the PAEs and will be checked on a weekly basis.

As expected, Yannis Vroutsis will present to the cabinet how the digital identification of the holder of each electronic ticket will be provided through his mobile phone. Its issuance process will be very specific. The sports fan will go to his team’s website, choose the numbered seat he wants and proceed with identification through gov.gr using his personal codes from Taxi. He will then receive his ticket on his mobile phone. Now he will have it in the form of a digital card and with this he will go to the match and scan it at the reader at the stadium gate.

The Digital Register of Fan Clubs will be activated and it will be possible to have only one club per team emblem that will operate under each PAE. The bill provides for the upgrading of the functioning of the powers of the Permanent Committee to Combat Violence and the National Coordinating Committee for Combating Violence will be established.

Kyriakos Pierrakakis will present the details of the establishment of non-state universities which has already caused friction between the government and the opposition. As Kyriakos Mitsotakis had announced, the government will make use of Article 28 of the Constitution, which allows the operation of branches of foreign universities in Greece. These will be created with interstate agreements and under strict specifications.

Already 10 world-renowned universities – two of them reportedly from Cyprus – have expressed interest in setting up higher education institutions. The control of the operation will be exercised as a coordinating body by the National Authority of Higher Education.

According to the government’s calculations, the benefits will be many and significant. It is estimated that the possibility of operating non-state universities will contribute 1% to the GDP and strengthen the bet of reversing the brain drain with around 30,000 students who now choose to study abroad to remain in Greece.