Karapapas: “What we have said about elite referees should apply, otherwise we will have a huge problem”

If the words were misinterpreted and they then said that the Super League and Mr. Marinakis will choose referees, this is nonsense that has to do with unserious people such as the president of the EPO and all those who have gathered in the Federation. At the meeting that took place, in which as you know I was present, what Mr. Marinakis said was simple, he said, “Gentlemen, what do we disagree on? We want not to know the referee who will come, to see him on the field, blow the whistle well and then forget about him, that’s what we want if we want to go further”. So we want top referees, those referees that no one can whisper in their ear, no one can take them for coffee and tell them which bench is bad and should get a card and which bench shouldn’t. And the Super League which is a serious organization will contact UEFA and the major Federations to help all these people bring in elite and top referees and appoint them to the KED as the regulations provide. So what’s the absurdity of it? It’s exactly what the teams asked for. Therefore, Mr. Baltakos, who has been acting as the president of the EPO lately, not only agreed with Mr. Marinakis’ proposal, but said that Mr. Bennett cannot bring top referees, it is proven that he does not have the ability. You know, Mrs. Marinou can’t send emails from Azerbaijan to Malta and think that we can bring top referees. You only bring them if you know the top referees themselves and if you can talk to the FIFA and UEFA Federations, that’s how we bring top referees, you don’t bring them if an EPO employee sends a letter and says to the Federation send me an elite referee, no you order toast elite referees in the supermarket, referees you want, with all that entails. The top referees don’t listen, no one can direct them, no one can influence them, that’s why they are also elite. So Mr. Baltakos not only agreed with what Mr. Marinakis said, because at the end of the day we have to see who wears skirts and who wears pants in this country, but do you know what he asked? Let’s issue a joint statement. In other words, the Super League of Mr. Marinakis and the EPO chaired by Mr. Baltakos should issue a joint statement in which they will say that they have come to an absolute agreement between the EPO and the Super League to bring in elite referees because the EPO is unable to bring in elite referees. So Mr. Triantafillou of the EPO Press Office also came to the meeting to issue the joint announcement. Leonidas Thomaidis, the representative of EPO in Super League 2 and a member of the Executive Committee of EPO, was also in the office as you know from publications.

Later I read a statement that followed the meeting. I obviously understand that in the meantime someone gave Mr. Baltako an order to do something else and that’s what he did, nothing impresses me anymore.

On the other issue that was brought up for discussion, things were said exactly as Mr. Marinakis said in his statement. That is, Mr. Baltakos told us that he was threatened and they told him he would wear a black tie and mourn his children and he does not tolerate this and he asked for police monitoring for his family and he cannot do it alone and he wants another institutional factor such as the president of the Super League to make an intervention and plead with the Ministry. This was done on the spot, Mr. Marinakis took it to the Ministry and said “the man here is under threat, these are serious things, do everything you can, we as the Super League ask you too, do everything you can”. A person cannot be threatened, so imagine how we felt with the behavior that followed. I don’t want to take a position on Baltakos’ refutation because I have serious things to do and I don’t want to run to the prosecutors if I say what I think. What I want to say is that everyone finally makes their position clear, they really want elite referees, they want to make changes to the league which is already spoiled because the standings are not the real ones, they want us to have elite referees, yes or no? They want to come to the playoffs elite referees to get the championship the one who really deserves it without screaming voices, do they want it or not?

Look what happened to Bennett, we make an official invitation to the Super League to come and tell us what his plan is and his plan, let us also voice our complaints, everyone is making an announcement about Bennett. An announcement was made by the Super League on Friday and we were saying that with those he brings, he will blow up the league with the Iranian and Albanian VARists. You saw what happened. We were vindicated and instead of calling Bennett into the office and telling him “sir leave”, we are now sitting and discussing that Mr Bennett can’t. And Mr. Baltakos does the other vulgarity, he calls the teams for the following Monday to say the following Monday that he does not have time to bring elite referees so that the derbies of the next matchday will be like this again.

Does anyone think that those who are now in the EPO will solve the problem? Since they themselves are the problem. And we have a State which is in shambles. So the time has come for what we have said to apply, otherwise we will have a huge problem. I have told you many months in advance what will happen. They used to say “Olympiacos is behind in terms of points and that’s why you’re talking about it”, now Olympiacos is not behind in claiming the championship, aren’t we saying the same thing?

It is not necessary for all the teams to say about the elite referees, as you saw two teams who issued two announcements said they don’t want Clattenberg as if we said something like that, so to speak. You saw other announcements from Volos, Aris and Panathinaikos leaks that said we don’t care if it will be Bennett or Clattenberg but to have elite referees. PAOK and AEK had also voted for elite referees in the Super League decider before the playoffs.

The EPO’s announcement was purely communicative, it was never said in the conversation that the Super League would appoint referees. At some point the State will also have to do something, I understand that the Prime Minister also has serious issues at this time, I also live in society and I also listen to what is happening around me. But do you know there was once a Deputy Minister of Sports who changed the assistants in a Cup final, isn’t there some intervention here? They don’t see that the leagues are being broken up in the air, like Super League 2 for example, don’t they? What else needs to be done? Didn’t they see what happened on Sunday? We’re looking at statements from people at Super League teams who say they won’t finish the playoffs.

And one last thing which I think is quite serious, at the moment I am informing so that no one plays the cunning because the cunning has short legs and especially if the legs are already short or if you are short not in height but in general stature, as it is he who is the president in the EPO, I tell you that: Already the Super League where there is a mechanism which at the end of the day will take over the professional refereeing whatever they say has contacted and they have two elite referees who have blown the whistle Champions League semi-final and final. What will they say? That they don’t want them?

If we want to go to the logic of having elite referees and see the shocking playoffs where we have four championship contenders or do we go to the logic of Dbanovic referees and what do you say will the playoffs end or not? I want to believe that they will end because I don’t want to be a soothsayer.

They say here that the elite referees have a busy schedule, didn’t they have it last year and the year before? Were the other leagues not happening? Change something; It’s just that now because there are fewer European games there are more available. I tell you again how a mechanism that has now been built for the professional refereeing of the Super League immediately finds two elite referees and Mr. Bennett who has acquired a phantom presence because the definitions are made by Mandalos, don’t kid us, where are they? He’s a referee, have you seen him anywhere? Let you journalists get Reilly who is in charge of referees in the Premier League to give you his opinion.

Tell us what they want, do they want elite referees? Let the State take its responsibility, let the groups take their responsibility, Baltakos, what responsibility should the little man take? It’s like the Levi’s pants commercial pulled by two horses from here and there that’s it.