Paranga (football)

Paranga (Greek: Παράγκα, literally shanty or hut) is a folk expression in Greece referring to rigging games by selecting favourable referees and match-fixing at the Greek football championship.

Term and events

The term is mostly associated with the championships of Olympiacos F.C. during the years 1997-2003 and its then president Sokratis Kokkalis, but has also spread to refer to the general corruption in the Greek football.^[1] According to the public opinion, the lure has always been the annual financial bonus from UEFA for the participating teams in the UEFA Champions League.

With the method of telephone tapping, Makis Triantafyllopoulos, a TV journalist, trapped a conversation between Thomas Mitropoulos (invisible owner of Egaleo F.C. and at the same time "advisor of Olympiakos on arbitration matters") and a referee (Spathas), saying "...we don't care about the others, we only want Olympiakos win, only Olympiakos and Egaleo, fuck all others..." and referring to Kokkalis as the Uncle. The journalist involved also the president then of the Hellenic Football Federation, Vassilis Gagatsis.

"Koriopolis"

After the taking of Olympiakos' leadership by Evangelos Marinakis, new scandals came in the light, such as the Koriopolis scandal. In one of the recorded conversations, Olympiacos Volou' chairman Achilleas Beos asks protection for the referees (Kalopoulos, Tryfonas) from Evangelos Marinakis, after a controversial winning game of Olympiakos against Panathinaikos on 21 February 2011. In February 2012, the Superleague Greece with the agreement of the Hellenic Football Federation achieved the replacement of the two football prosecutors (Fakos, Antonakakis) with two others (Petropoulos, Karras). The investigation had no progress.^[2]

Reactions and judicial process

In 1999, after a derby match between Olympiacos F.C. and A.E.K. Athens F.C., Demis Nikolaidis and other AEK players decided to abstain from the Greece national football team as a protest for the arbitration. They revoked in 2001 after the coming of Otto Rehhagel as manager.

In 2004, the ex-manager of Egaleo FC, Stéphane Demol, stated that the reason he was sacked from the team was because he didn't agree with the president on match-fixing.^[3]

In 2008, referee Dimitris Pontikis stated that indeed there was among the referees a group that favoured Olympiacos F.C., in exchange for a better career.^[4]

On 21 February 2011, after a controversial derby match between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos F.C. (referee Kalopoulos), Panathinaikos striker Djibril Cissé had an wrangle with Evangelos Marinakis and stated he would abandon Superleague Greece because of the arbitration.

With the break out of the Koriopolis scandal, appeals to the Greek Justice were made by some politicians, such as the ministers Yiannis Kourakis and Giorgos Floridis, who stated that "a gang controls the referees from the background". In 2011, minister Pavlos Geroulanos called the Greek football "totally corrupted".^[5] The whole judicial process had no result.^[6] At the time, UEFA officials said no action was presently being considered against Olympiakos regarding its participation in the Champions League of the following season.

"Criminal Organization"

In August 2014, new elements came in the light by the National Intelligence Service involving Marinakis, Giorgos Sarris (president of the Hellenic Football Federation) and other football officers, referees and judges in the establishment of a "criminal organisation".^[7][8] Also, Marinakis is appearing to be behind the attack to the bakery shop of Konstantineas and behind attacks to referees (Giorgos Daloukas, Dimitris Kyrkos etc.), journalists and others.^[9][10][11]

In September 2014, Olivier Kapo, ex-player of Levadiakos F.C., stated in French media that "in Greek football everything is corrupted, mafia-controlled, while FIFA and UEFA simply don't care".^[12]

In November 2014, the Chief Refereeing Officer Hugh Dallas criticized the arbitration of Ilias Spathas, after a match of Olympiacos, as the "worst he has ever seen" saying that the mistakes were not normal.^[13][14] A few days later he quit from being responsible for the appointments of refereeing officials for Super League and Football League matches.^[15]

In June 2015, ex-owner of Fostiras F.C., Carlo Vandekerkhof, stated: "the situation in Greece is a shame, the second division is a catastrophy...I was approached also to fix a match...seems to be in their culture".^[16]

See also

• Koriopolis
• 2015 Greek football scandal
• 2006 Italian football scandal

References

1. "O "θείος", ο "κοκκαλιάρης" και ο "περίεργος" - ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΗ - Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
2. "SPORTSDNA - ΠΟΔΟΣΦΑΙΡΟ - Δικαστικές Υποθέσεις - Εισαγγελέας για τους εισαγγελείς υπάρχει;". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
3. Δημήτρης Σαμόλης (2 December 2014). "H πτώση του Αιγάλεω". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
4. "Ο Ποντίκης μιλάει για παράγκα , Γκαγκάτση και Μητρόπουλο". Contra.gr. 26 October 2008. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
5. Greek football turns ugly (SETimes.com)
6. e-go.gr , Pegasus Interactive. "Η "παράγκα" άντεξε τον σεισμό των αποκαλύψεων". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
7. "Op-Ed: Greek officials still playing dirty". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
8. "Sixteen reportedly charged in Greek football match-fixing investigation". the Guardian. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
9. "SPORTSDNA - ΕΓΚΛΗΜΑΤΙΚΗ ΟΡΓΑΝΩΣΗ - Τα "καυτά" συμπεράσματα του πορίσματος Κορέα!". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
10. Paul Nicholson. "Greek corruption: Olympiacos owner charged in match-fixing ring round-up - Inside World Football". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
11. Paul Nicholson. "Matt Scott: Greek football's tragedy is a lesson for us all - Inside World Football". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
12. En Grèce, c'est la mafia totale!
13. "Τα έψαλε ο Ντάλας σε Σπάθα και Κοντιζά". 16 November 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
14. Gazzetta team (16 November 2014). "Ντάλας σε Σπάθα: "Δεν μπορώ να πιστέψω ότι είναι απλά λάθη"". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
15. "Weekly News: Hugh Dallas quits as Greek Referee Officer following Attacks on colleague - The 3rd Team". Retrieved 16 August 2015.
16. Αχιλλέας Τσιμπογιάννης (24 June 2015). "Η Ελλάδα είναι μια ντροπή". Retrieved 16 August 2015.