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The new bill of the Greek Ministry of Sports opens up new fronts for the cabinet of SYRIZA and Independent Greeks. The Hellenic Football Federation has opposed the majority of the changes in the text and requested assistance from the international and European football federations FIFA and UEFA.

The Hellenic Federation has presented the text of the letter from their leaderships, stating that if the Greek parliament adopts the bill the Greek teams will not be able to participate in European and international football competitions. "Given the circumstances, we hereby inform you that should the bill be adopted as proposed, we will have no option but to refer the case to the relevant FIFA and UEFA bodies for immediate sanctions, including the suspension of the Hellenic Football Federation," wrote Secretary General of the International Football Federation Jerome Valcke and General Secretary of the European Football Federation Gianni Infantino. "A suspension of the Hellenic Football Federation would mean that it would lose its FIFA and UEFA membership rights and, in particular, that no Greek team of any sort, including clubs, could take part in FIFA and UEFA competitions. The lifting of the suspension would be possible upon the return to the previous situation, meaning through the abolition of the law," adds the letter.

The first reaction of Greek Deputy Minister of Sports Stavros Kontonis was, "I do not accept ultimatums." He said he was convinced of the correctness of the changes planned in the law and he was not sure that they could lead to the suspension of the Hellenic Football Federation. Late last night he called for a dialogue with FIFA and UEFA management bodies, stressing that both federations were also responsible for corruption in Greek football.

The most controversial regulation of the law is Article 19 that provides for state controls and regulations with regard to all sport-related issues. In his speech in parliament two days ago Kontonis said that the state recognized the priciple of self-governance in football, but added, "In no way can we leave uncontrolled sectors that use state money. We support self-governance, but we also want all federations to be managed and controlled in a uniform way, without exceptions. FIFA and UEFA are international organizations that are subject to Swiss law. Greek parliament is the body that legislates under the direct order of Greek people."

Commenting on the letter from the governing bodies of FIFA and UEFA, the Deputy Minister of Sports said, "The fact that, even before the start of the three-day debate of the relevant parliamentary commission that will discuss in detail the proposals of the parties and interested institutions, and that the international federations are rushing to forestall the decision of the Greek deputies by threatening to suspend the membership of the Hellenic Football Federation, is raising many questions. It is clear that they are not interested in solving the problems in Greek football, for which they bear a great responsibility as supervisory bodies to the Hellenic Federation. Instead, in an manner that is offensive to the Greek people and, especially, the Greek fans, they are trying to preserve corruption that our government of social salvation is fighting against."

The debate on the bill in the parliamentary commission on culture and sports will take place next week. Chairman of the Panathinaikos football club Giannis Alafouzos said that the suspension of participation of Greek teams in the European football competitions "is not a solution, it is a disaster." The management of Olympiakos in turn sent a letter to the Greek lawmakers, in which it supports the position of the Hellenic Football Federation.