Avgenakis: “The introduction of professional refereeing is a deep cut in the foundation of our professional football”

Deputy Minister of Culture and Sport Lefteris Avgenakis called the introduction of professional refereeing into our professional football “a deep incision in the fundamentals of professional football as conditions have matured,” adding, “It’s time to take a bold step.” To do Due to the popularity of Greek football, the fans’ visit to the stadiums, but also their distrust of the healthy part of football, is partly due to the pathogenesis of refereeing.

The Deputy Minister of Sports supported the relevant amendment for professional arbitration, tabled to a Ministry of Justice bill discussed at a meeting of Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order and Justice and due to be presented tomorrow, Thursday 2 June.

Mr Avgenakis also stressed that “we must set an example through good international practice, through advanced World Cups like England. An environment that has established professional refereeing and offers an excellent spectacle every year, based entirely on the competitive quality of the teams, without hesitation and rightly ranked at the top of the world championships.

Because in a place where footballers and coaches are professionals, it is imperative that the referees follow suit, who only do their job without doing another job that distracts them,” said the note “for reasons”. . For more transparency, the professional refereeing system is ensured by a decision of the minister responsible for sport, derogating from the provisions of the Statute of the Hellenic Football Confederation (EPO).

This change includes three more articles:
• For the “Special Rules of the Professional Soccer Referee”, which were drawn up exclusively by the Central Referees Committee
• For the “Barriers to registration of a member of a sports club”, where the barrier of shareholders, partners, managers and board members will be removed. Sports Societe Anonyme for serving on the board of directors of an amateur sports club
• For the extension until December 31, 2022 of the deadline for aligning statutory sports clubs, sports associations and sports associations with the provisions of the sports laws

The full position of Deputy Minister of Sport:

“Article 1: Professional refereeing in football

We are moving towards the beginning of a deep incision in the fundamentals of professional football. The prerequisites have matured to dare to take the big step of establishing professional refereeing in professional football.

The reasons are known to everyone. The vast majority of those involved in football professionally or as fans consider refereeing to be one of the sport’s biggest ‘thorns’.

The popularity of Greek football, the presence of the fans on the field, but also their distrust of the healthy part of football are, according to a widespread confession, due, among other things, to the pathogenesis of refereeing.

It’s time to take a bold step. Let’s stop letting problems feed us and withdraw, and let’s look up.

An example of this is advanced World Cups like England. An environment that has established professional refereeing and offers an excellent spectacle every year, based entirely on the competitive quality of the teams, without hesitation and rightly ranked at the top of the world championships.

Similarly, in our country, in order to publicize good international practices, we mandate that for the needs of the men’s national professional soccer championships, the introduction of a professional refereeing system is foreseen.

Because in a place where players and coaches are professionals, it is imperative that referees follow, who deal exclusively with that place, without a parallel professional practice that would distract them.

For reasons of greater transparency, the system is secured by a decision of the minister responsible for sport, by derogation from the provisions of the Statute of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO).

Article 2: Professional Football Refereeing Regulations

The proposed provision stipulates that for refereeing in professional football, the special regulation of Article 48 of Law 2725/1999 will be drawn up by the Central Referees Committee (KED) and not by the board of the competent sports association.

The need for voting for the provision is great, as it will be implemented from the start of the next season of state professional championships.
Therefore, as reasonable a period as possible should be allowed for the formulation of the Rules of Procedure. The Central Refereeing Committee is the most competent to create the appropriate framework that will change the course of refereeing in professional football in our country.

A football environment served by referees with a fixed salary and proper education and training, and most importantly, where there will be sanctions for anything that tries to disrupt the healthy pitch.

With these regulations, we are aiming for an overall better football product. To acquire a purely professional character that offers healthy competition, without doubts and suspicions of manipulation. After all, our approach to combating manipulation is well known and has made great strides in recent years.

But that alone is not enough. We need to join forces, bring in the relevant bodies their experience and know-how, and most importantly, bring together the progress of Greek football and its return to the high levels of the world pyramid.

Article 3: Obstacles to the registration of a member of a sports club

With the proposed provision:

• the limit of imprisonment is increased in the second case of paragraph 1 of article 3 of Law 2725/1999, which is considered an obstacle to acquiring the status of a member of a sports club and
• the blocking of shareholders, associates, managing directors and board members is no longer necessary. Sports Society for her work on the board of directors of an amateur sports club.

In order to ensure the most effective management of sports clubs, it is necessary to serve the principle of proportionality and leniency. It is quite severe and counterproductive to the management and progress of the unions to exclude people who have been sentenced to less than a year’s imprisonment. The purpose of the regulation is therefore to eliminate reasons for the exclusion of individuals from participating in sports clubs due to poor performance, which entail the minimum penalty.

Regarding the second part, according to Article 74 of Law 2725/1999, the founding sports association has the right to appoint one (1) member to the Board of Directors (BoD) of the company. The article gives the founding union the right to elect its own representative to protect its essential and vital interests. Usually the chairman or another board member. of the union is the lobbyist of the union on the Board of Directors. of Sports Society Anonymous.

Therefore, on the one hand, there can be no provision allowing a member of the sports association to serve on the board of the Sports Society Anonyme and, on the other hand, Article 3(7) of Law 2725/1999 prohibiting a member of the board from serving on the board of the amateur sports association.

Therefore, it is considered appropriate to remove the relevant obstacle pursuant to paragraph 7 of Article 3 of Law 2725/1999 in order to remove the contradiction between it and Article 74.

Article 4: Deadline for the obligation to amend the statutes of sports clubs

The necessary amendment of the trade union statutes and their alignment with certain provisions of Law 2725/1999 requires an application to the competent court and the issuing of a corresponding decision. Any amendment to the Articles of Association is only valid after it has been entered in the relevant book.

From the open dialogue we have maintained at the base of our sports pyramid, we realize that it will not be possible for a large number of sports clubs to fulfill their obligation to align their statutes in a timely manner, as they are due to the heavy workload of the Courts did not make the relevant decisions in a timely manner and the changes were not recorded in the relevant books.

In order to avoid the predicted adverse consequences of the automatic withdrawal of the special sports recognition granted, it therefore seems appropriate to extend the deadline for the clubs to fulfill their obligation to December 31, 2022. Our goal is and remains and at the same time to achieve the development and progress of all sports through the support of our clubs. “Step by step, with good cooperation, with dialogue and honesty, we succeed in every topic.”.