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What's interesting to me is the fact Olympiakos clearly has the most to lose by a Grexit. They are the only ones raking in E20+ million annually on the Champions League market pool. For 9/14 teams in the SL this is the equivalent of telling a vegetarian he can't eat meat for three years. Oh no, not that! For the AEK-PAOK-PAO-Panionios/Asteras sure it's a loss of anywhere from E2-E6 million depending on how optimistic you are, which is certainly no small amount of money. However, with a completely reformed football federation, that would hopefully include a more egalitarian revenue sharing model from television, European competitions, etc., as well as more competent referees, a better organizational structure and election reforms for KED and EPO. Taking the long view, a 3 year ban may actually be a benefit to the entire league 5 years from now. So why not bite the bullet? There is one thing that CANNOT be disputed; the EPO & SL are two very poorly run organizations - without even mentioning corruption/bribery/nepotism, consider this: -The last two or three years, there has been at least one team that has NOT finished the top flight competition because they were financially insolvent. How can you even get licensed to be in the top flight if you are broke before Christmas?? -We know for a fact that tax payment reporting was forged by some owners and somehow it slipped through the EPO/SL cracks. -The league has gone from 12 to 14 to 16 to 14 teams over the last several years. For a time, the SL wanted to go to 18 teams! Can you even name 18 towns in Greece that have the population to support a team? On what budget?? Where else does this happen, that we can't decide out how big our top flight should be? -The SL NEVER got a sponsor for the 2015/16 season. Think about the sheer incompetence that must entail. This is the most valuable league in the entire country. And no one wanted to put their names on the jerseys. -There have been multiple games each of the last couple of seasons suspended (or never started) because of fan violence. All games involved Olympiakos. C'mon, that's just weird. -Somehow, no international referees (those who officiate UCL-UEL-FIFA games) ever get assigned to the most important games of the year. At a minimum, that's incompetence. -Attendance has been declining for years. Although this can be a symptom of economic struggles, some teams only charge like 5 Euros for games. Most Greeks spend 5 Euros for a frappe they drink for 3 hours. So I KNOW they could spend 2 hours watching football if they were so inclined. This all adds up to one horribly managed, horribly designed, horribly thought out system. And if it requires government intervention to overhaul it completely, than I am all for it. Screw WC 2018, we all saw the Iceland game, we were not going far in that competition anyway. /endrant

Sounds to me like he *is* scoring where it matters.

Good post teke. If you think that the situation in Superleague is bad, the problems in the lower divisions are even worse. In the Football League, which is also a professional league, two teams did not finish the season this year, and some teams don't have money to pay the referees as they are supposed to do. God only knows what's going on in the amateur leagues. EPO needs to be restructured from the ground up.

As much I believe our team needs a lot of work in order for us to become title contenders, the most important signing we could do is keeping poyet. If he was to leave, that would be a huge set back. Our players are dedicated to him and our squad have learnt his philosophy. Keeping poyet is the most important signing. But if we were to keep him, our main priority in the transfer market is signing a quality striker, an experienced center back and 2 wingers. I wouldn't mind barbosa starting next season, however we need to sign 2 more wingers, one as a starter and the other could be a starter or a back up to barbosa, apart from barbosa our wingers are poor.

Hey Ellas75, if you end up meeting him get in his ear and tell him to start taking things seriously.

@teke817, that is far from a rant. Great post. If I could, I'd like it 817 times.

hopefully it will pick up sooner..also guys im heading to Athens in may!!! :tup:

lets assume it happens for 1-2 years... no greek teams in europe...no NT matches... domestic league at the level of Armenian league . FIFA ranking in 2018 is 145 UEFA coefficient is 33.... then what? suddenly there will be an epiphany in 2018 and the revamped GSL will become what??? Greece will still be broke.... so we will find 14 tycoons to finance new revamped clubs?? in a country that you can'T build a stadium or a road? all this stems from the perception that 'it worked in England 20 years ago"... Greece is like no other country... and what happens in Round 1 2018 if Olympiakos beats AEL or Trikala 2-0 with a penalty? and AEK lose to OFI?? RIOTS AGAIN???

Just play the Greek cup behind closed doors, In Larnaca, Belmore Oval, Wanderland, or at the Vatican. Just play the thing.