Olympiacos cries out against arbitration: “The championship, corrupt”

This Saturday there was a passionate Greek derby that could define the future of the Greek Super League. In football, the match disappointed. A goalless draw, which keeps Panathinaikos at the top of the table with a five-point advantage over the team coached by Michel. But like all hot derbies and more in Greece, the figure of the referee is always in question. Olympiacos openly complained about the work of the Portuguese referee João Pinheiro after seeing how he canceled a goal with the help of the VAR of the local Vrousai in the 89th minute.

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Olympiacos’ indignation with the referee was maximum. He complained about his performance throughout the match with the burning point of the canceled goal. The situation got so heated that the referee had to be escorted at the end of the match by the Police. Even the president of the club, Evangelos Marinakis, entered the field and had an argument with João Pinheiro, as well as the vice president Kostas Karapapas, whom he had to admonish. The pressure from Olympiacos for the treatment received by the referee in the Hellenic derby did not stop there, who this Sunday issued a harsh statement charging about his performance.

“We thank the Olympiacos fans for the way they reacted to another flagrant robbery in a match for our team. The referees on the field and from the VAR who control the phases of the match to favor our opponents! Non-existent offsides, fouls that did not exist, cards… Next time they will find something else! Now all of Greece knows what happened. SWe will all continue together with a bitter smile, giving everything until the last game: Our players, our fans! We are Olympiacos and we are born winners! This championship is one of the most corrupt and depraved of all time and everyone knows it, except maybe the Greek government.

Míchel: “We don’t need foreign referees”

Míchel, the Spanish coach of Olympiacos, also pointed out the arbitration received. “This game shows once again that we don’t need to have foreign referees. I think these referees who come from abroad will go home and they don’t care what happened in the game, they are not here and they don’t know what this derby means. Someone from the outside will see the result and say “Olympiacos didn’t win”, simply. The referees know the rules, but how they interpret them is something personal and I don’t mean just the goal. It shows once again that we don’t need to have foreign referees.”