Greek Soccer: President Invades Pitch With Gun, Threatens Ref (Video)

European men watch soccer like American men watch football (or at least so I presume), with a lot of passion. The closer you get to the Mediterranean countries in Europe, the higher the passion. Whereas English and Russian fans will duke it out in the stands, the Spanish, Italian and Greek fans will shout and whistle the whole match, venting their anger at the referee.

As there is a world cup coming up in Russia soon, the European soccer competitions have been planned to end a tad sooner than usual. Normally the close of the season is foreseen for April-May, this year all of them will be decided by half April so that the national teams have time to prepare for the world cup.

<iframe width="854" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/V_7kL7K6nCM" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

In Greece, the top-flight match between PAOK Salonika and AEK Athens is one of bitter rivalries between the poorer north (Salonika) and the richer southern capital (Athens).

After 89 minutes (1 minute before the official end), the score was still 0-0 (in soccer you get three points for a win, one point for a draw and zero points if you lose). At that moment, PAOK Saloniki scores, creating the ultimate upset. The stadium explodes with joy until… the referee cancels the goal for an alleged foul.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">He tried to confront the referee… with a gun in a hip holster. 😳<br><br>PAOK Salonika&#39;s president sparked bizarre scenes in Greece yesterday.<br><br>Full story: <a href="https://t.co/mnfZLonCjG">https://t.co/mnfZLonCjG</a> <a href="https://t.co/N1P38zsrla">pic.twitter.com/N1P38zsrla</a></p>&mdash; BBC Sport (@BBCSport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BBCSport/status/973130914204147712?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 12, 2018</a></blockquote>

<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Mr Ivan Savvidis, the PAOK Saloniki President, is furious.

He goes down from the stands and onto the pitch. He asks his team to leave the soccer field following the offside decision and then marches straight towards the referee, with a gun holstered, before being pulled back by bodyguards.

The match was officially abandoned some two hours later. According to the Greek local press, the referee had by this time reversed his decision.

Source:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_7kL7K6nCM