Koriopolis

UEFA has welcomed a Greek court decision to convict 58 club officials, managers, and others for up to 10 years in prison for a match-fixing scandal in 2011.

The officials were convicted on a variety of charges - among them bribery, illegal gambling, and money laundering - and include former officials of the top-flight league and the Greek Football Association.

The president and the owner of Asteras Tripolis, the former owner of Levadiakos, the suspended mayor of Volos and former owner of the local club, and two former Olympiakos defenders are among the Greek soccer figures found guilty of match-fixing or illegal betting in the case related to the 2010-2011 season, known in Greece as Koriopolis.

A prosecutor has called for most of the charges against 84 people in connection with the so-called Koriopolis match-fixing scandal that hit Greek soccer in 2011 to be dropped because there is a lack of evidence to suggest that there was an organized attempt to fix the outcome of matches.

After a year of being under the control of a FIFA normalisation committee, Greek football looks to be in a worse position than when FIFA parachuted itself in to take control. New data suggests that as many as 75% of the games in the country’s second tier Football League show signs of match-fixing under FIFA’s stewardship.

By Graham Wood

Vangelis Marinakis, owner of Greek champions Olympiakos Piraeus, has been banned from soccer as an investigation continues into allegations that a criminal organisation is controlling the domestic game.

According to judicial sources, the shipping magnate has also been ordered to report to police every 15 days on strict bail terms.

The president of FC Olympiacos, Vangelis Marinakis, on Thursday was acquitted of all charges related to the so-called “Coriopolis” (Bug-gate) affair involving charges of fixed matches in the Greek professional football league.

The board of directors meeting of the Greek Super League on Tuesday ended abruptly when a shouting match between the presidents of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos ended in an altercation.