Greek football club owner banned for 3 years over pitch invasion with gun

PAOK was also docked three points and fined for Ivan Savvidis' actions, meaning it drops to third place in a tight championship race with AEK and Olympiakos.

Published : Mar 29, 2018 16:08 IST

PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis invades into the pitch during a Greek League soccer match between PAOK and AEK Athens in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki.

The owner of Greek club PAOK has been banned for three years after storming onto the pitch with a holstered gun on his belt, league organisers said.

PAOK was also docked three points and fined for Ivan Savvidis' actions, meaning it drops to third place in a tight championship race with AEK Athens and Olympiakos.

Read: PAOK owner wanted by Greek police for pitch invasion

The ruling, which also includes a 100,000-euro ($123,000) fine for Greek-Russian businessman Savvidis and a separate 63,000-euro fine for PAOK, is open to appeal.

Also Thursday, the monitoring committee of global football body FIFA recommended the immediate suspension of Greece's football federation, according to a letter leaked to Greek media.

Also read: PAOK president apologises after invading pitch with gun

The Greek leage will resume on Saturday after being suspended on March 12 in the wake of the Savvidis incident.

The clubs have agreed to a list of government demands, including point deductions and automatic relegation for clubs responsible for violence.