Marinakis to Baltako: “Rot in the federation – KED is a pawnshop of the EPO’s principals”

I received the no. prot. EPO 20485 / 2023 your “reply” letter, and I can say that its content confirmed what I always believed: you do not have the slightest interest in the progress of Greek football. All you care about is self-preservation and staying afloat, even if it’s the surface of the sewer.

I am not surprised by your – in fact – insistence on maintaining the existing electoral system. One would expect a Federation President to be opposed to the maintenance of a limited electorate and the maintenance of the regime of widespread corruption that accompanies EPO elections and is designed to secure the privileges of various outcasts who are appointed as EPO Executive Committee Members and impersonate Councillors, executing commands. But for that to happen you would have to be a regular President of the Federation. Not a bystander nor a trustee. Leave the threats for the alleged “punishment” of Greece from potential changes in the way the EPO administration is elected in the direction of a more transparent, more democratic and more impartial process. There are persons more serious than you who can ensure that such punishment never occurs.

It is obvious and shown by your whole letter that the EPO (under your leadership) is in favor of downgrading the K.E.D. and of its transformation into a “shopkeeper” of the Federation’s principals. After all, this is what the “upgrade” of Mr. Mandalos serves, which you defend and – publicly – confirm. If the KED is “independent” and operates under the “supervision” of Mr. Bennett what is the reason for your attendance at the meetings that Mr. Bennett calls on Arbitration issues? And why consult with practicing referees to get their “views” on professional refereeing? Regarding the formation of K.E.D. by foreign officials, does it matter at all if the Holistic Study provided for the presence of “Foreign Specialists” for the next two seasons since it was drawn up and now we are in the third season? I would expect to hear less nonsense from you. I would expect a normal President of the Federation to vigorously defend the most effective operating model of the K.E.D. of the last (many) years and to work on the best possible staffing of it by persons of international prestige with proven experience, who will work for the good of Greek refereeing and the championship and will be constantly present in Greece. But for all this a normal President of the Federation is needed, not you.

Instead of them, you personally, ignoring the will of professional football, played a leading role in the formation of the KED from dummies and tourists and now you bless their replacement by persons of reduced credibility such as Mr. Mandalos, who for another reason joined the Arbitration Committee and fulfills another role. And now you pretend to be the supposedly distant observer of the supposedly independent K.E.D. Fairy tales are nice but keep them for your friends. Don’t say them publicly because you expose yourself.

You mention in your letter that both you and EPO as a whole are “unfortunately obliged” to accept for one more year the invitation of foreign elite referees for the derby matches of the Greek league. Why “unfortunately”? Are you saddened by the presence of top foreign referees in Greece? Are you worried about ensuring the integrity of the Greek league? Do you prefer the league games to be run by residents who get the foreign referees who come to Greece drunk and make announcements at half-time? Do you prefer puppets to run the Greek league? You also shared with us today your correspondence with the President of UEFA regarding the possibility of the presence of foreign elite referees in the league that has just started, and you even invite us to give you assurances. The assurance I can give you is that Superleague 1 is working and will continue to work both for the presence in Greece of the best referees from abroad in order to ensure the integrity of the competitions and to make it clear to the supranational confederations that in all As far as arbitration in Greece is concerned, the EPO in its current form, structure, operation and staffing is part of the problem, not the solution. This is what we told Mr. Ceferin during our recent meeting at the meeting organized by the Prime Minister at the Maximos Palace and this is what we will continue to explain at every opportunity.

Could it be that for all the reasons I mentioned above both you and the EPO oppose the operation of the institution of professional arbitration which is also provided for by the laws of the Greek State? Professional football has prepared and drawn up a comprehensive plan, but you refuse to help implement it without any substantial argument. Is “procedures” your problem? You have never answered (and will not answer, because it is not in your interest to answer) why the Federation does not want to remove the thorn of arbitration from itself. You mention in your letter that the EPO maintains 14 national teams and organizes dozens of Cup matches, amateur leagues, etc. So why don’t you leave the Refereeing of the professional leagues to the professional leagues and the Professional refereeing to deal with your work undividedly? Who’s holding you?

You already “warn” us in your letter that you will not tolerate initiatives. I have news for you: professional football, as long as I have the honor of being trusted by the PAE of Superleague 1, will not stop taking initiatives for the progress of football in the country. Superleague 1 is the only healthy part left in Greek football. It increases its income for the benefit of all its Members, improves its Member teams with visible results and the presence of our teams in Europe and seeks the overall upgrade of the football product in the country. What works in our football besides Supeleague 1? The second professional category is a greenhouse of bookies that operate under your tolerance. Amateur Football is flourishing and at every meeting of the Executive Committee you bring us a new association request for a “grant” in order to meet its needs. The championships organized by the EPO are a joke and end up in court after months because the Federation is systematically illegal. The Hellenic Cup is a low-profile event that concludes each year with the annual farce called the “Cup Final”. So be sure that we will continue the initiatives because there are too many incompetents in the Greek football of the EPO.

It strikes me that you invoke UEFA and FIFA wherever it suits you, but where the supranational confederations have been explicitly mentioned you ignore them, as you did with the position of the CEO of the Federation, which you refer to in your letter. You know very well that UEFA and FIFA had requested the holding of an international competition for the selection of the appropriate person through a letter – Directive that they had addressed to the EPO, the binding nature of which was also diagnosed by a decision of the Arbitration Court. Although as a lawyer you are in a position – I assume – to read a court decision, you preferred to bypass it by using an “opinion” from Ms. Bizounis (when you were both still on your “honeymoon”) to place through a ridiculous “election” process » in this position your chosen (?) Mr. Filippoussi.

Don’t challenge our intelligence with antics.

You set up the Professional Football Commission in such a way that you can control it. Who is representative Martsoukos? Who does he represent? Does he have his own team in SL2? Of course not. He was elected President in ways known to all, and in fact with the extreme immoral vote of the EPO, which unfairly judged the election of a President to the Board of Directors of the second-ranking professional category. Was it true that the EPO representative in SL2 was instructed to vote in favor of a specific candidate or did he act of his own accord? Did he ever give any explanation to the Executive Committee for his attitude, or did you also participate in the pre-election campaign of Martsoukos in exchange for his vote in the EEP and the EE of the EPO? So many months later the EAP is still operating without regulation as an empty shell, and in fact you know very well that the spirit of the Holistic Study has not been followed and real Professional Football does not decide for its own house!

Finally, you should know that Superleague 1’s position on the “funding” of the EPO is unanimous: the money generated by professional football is professional football’s money and will remain for the benefit of professional football. The contribution to the EPO will be limited to the minimum necessary percentage. Superleague 1 will not finance either the “inflexible wage costs” of the drones that are placed by the dozen in the EPO services, nor certainly its “executives”. If you want to cover costs generate revenue and don’t expect to make a living from professional football. Will you ever be held accountable as the President of the Federation for the cost of compensation that EPO pays for invalid dismissals of its employees? Who is responsible for them? Or are the compensations also included in the “inelastic” operating costs of the EPO? For our part, we will continue to work out an overall plan for the direction of Superleague 1 money which will work for the benefit of amateur football and not for the benefit of those who manage the Federation’s fund at its expense.

Personally, I will continue unreservedly and in all tones to work with the sole aim of the progress of football in Greece as I have been doing since the first day of my involvement with it, against any perception and any practice that has as its sole aim the reproduction of the current rot at the level of the E.P.O.

The President of Super League 1