Position for its placement Olympiakou took against him Tasos Sidiropoulos with his statements. The Piraeus expressed their displeasure for the fact that the experienced referee was appointed in their game after four years, asking to be replaced by the match against Panaitolikos.
He emphasized through it Real FM that “Regarding the announcement, each group chooses its communication policy. It doesn’t touch me at all“, while adding that “I will go with a clear mind to do my job».
In detail what he said:
For the position of PAE Olympiacos: “First of all I have experienced the worst, having been substituted in a match. So being asked to replace me doesn’t touch me. Then with Mr. Bennett. It was a wrong decision to change back then. Mr. Gagatsis is the president of EPO. Not KED. The EPO has many things to deal with. Regarding the announcement, each group chooses its communication policy. It doesn’t touch me at all.
I will go with a clear mind to do my job as well and fairly as I can. Is there a reason to read something negative? I let it pass. My life is not just refereeing. I will not even deal negatively with a team that has made an announcement. I have to be fair to the players. There is nothing specific.
In terms of communication, an impression was created that he is negative towards Olympiakos. Obviously I will have made mistakes. I had one lawsuit from something that happened at a match after being sued by sports violence. I think the court was over the top too. I think the lawsuit was overblown. The atmosphere was very charged. I had to play for Olympiakos for 4 years».
On Lanois and his directions to the referees: “At the end of the meeting (the last time it took place) there was a reference to not being influenced by the announcements of the groups. We are here. The direction was given by Mr. Lanois and he was supportive and said ‘gentlemen close your ears and do justice».
As for when he’s thinking of stopping: “In the summer of 2026 ideally I want to stop».
On whether he ever came close to going to a major event: “I knew going into EURO 2016. The Federation decided to change the panel of international referees. It was unheard of that Mr. Koukoulakis was leaving the board. UEFA has a lot of faith in the referee who selects his team. My team disbanded and it was impossible to go to a final event (not having a team)».
Source: Sport Fm
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