It is the 25th of April today, the Great Monday for the Orthodox Christians. The beginning of the Great Week and the Passion of our Lord, Jesus Christ, which will lead to His torturous Crusifiction and His glorious Resurrection. At this very symbolic day, Ivan Savvidis chose to climb his own Golgotha.
The owner of PAOK FC, in an innovative move for the world of greek football, decided to... be flaggelated. To suffer with his team their own Cross of Passion. To resist with real action against the rotten greek football and do not play at the second semi final of Greek Cup against Olympiakos at Karaiskaki Stadium.
Ivan Savvidis, with personal, financial and sporting cost is choosing the difficult way. With this move he stops legalizing the corrupted -but duly constituted- system which is destroying the greek football. He decided to do what he had promised on camera a few minutes after the end of first semi final. A sequence of words and action, very rare in Greece of face political promises.
In the history of mankind, there was never a revolution without dead people. No war without sacrifices. PAOK selected the first blood shed to be theirs. The fine of -3 points from the next championship is already sabotaging their next season's effort, in a competition which will probably be more honest after Hellenic Football Federation's elections in October.
They accepted to make their negotiation with manager and transfer targets more difficult after this decision. However, they proved that they will be in the front line of the fight against corruption in greek football. Not with words, but with real action.
The first statement of Ivan Savvidis after Toumba Stadium's semi final against Olympiakos, about not playing at the rematch, was that which forced Deputy Minister of Sports Stavros Kontonis to finally take some measures. The invasion of PAOK's fans in the field was the excuse. The reasons were much deeper and that was proved after the important changes that brought the agreement with FIFA/UEFA in order for "Grexit" to be avoided. But fans of sports need more changes. Radical restructuring from point zero. Demolishing and rebuilding greek football from the structures.
The most important question right now is what will the other teams do. They will continue compromising and legalizing with their participation the corrupted system, or they will fight hard in order to make it clean again? They will continue yelling without serious meaning or get ready to stand along PAOK in the upcoming battles? They will continue participating in Super League ahead of next season or they will finally choose to fight? At least, they know that they are not alone any more.
There is no way of returning from this point. PAOK chose the way of Crusifiction, hoping for the Resurrection. Not (only) of their team. Of greek football, which is suffering for many years, with loud voices or deep silence, the most notorious dictatorship ever in the history of sports in Greece. Participation is not tolerance from now on, but complicity. PAOK selected not to defile their hands any more, but yell to the Government that ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
