Greek Soccer League Suspended After Gun-Wielding Owner Storms Pitch in Protest

A match involving Greek soccer clubs PAOK Salonika and AEK Athens was suspended Sunday after a mob of angry fans, along with armed owner Ivan Savvidis, stormed onto the field to protest an offside call.

PAOK’s club president/owner is under serious scrutiny after charging the field not once, but twice, while surrounded by bodyguards and a handgun holstered on his hip. Savvidis was upset about an offside ruling which resulted in a disallowed goal in the 89th minute of play. Greek prosecutors have reportedly issued an arrest warrant for Savvidas for invading the pitch, according to ekathimerini.com, as well as four others involved in the incident.

Greece’s deputy sports minister announced that play is suspended in the Greek Superleague while an investigation of the incident is taking place. “It won’t start again unless there is a clear framework, agreed by all, to move forward with conditions and rules,” he said.

Manolo Jimenez, the coach of AEK, told a Spanish radio station that a pistol-bearing Savvidis showed referee Giorgos Kominis his gun while yelling “your career as a referee has ended,” according to Marca. The referee, along with the rest of the officiating crew, promptly vacated the pitch after the disturbing threats.

“I hallucinate, I do not understand it, maybe in a Clint Eastwood movie,” Jimenez said after the match, according to the BBC’s Richard Conway.

FIFA released the following statement regarding the incident:

First of all, FIFA fully condemns such behavior. Given that this incident occurred in the context of a national competition, any disciplinary measure to be imposed falls under the jurisdiction of the deciding bodies of the Greek FA.

Savvidis was born in the country of Georgia, and is one of the world’s wealthiest men and a former member of the Russian parliament, according to the Washington Post.