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Greek Govt Bans Macedonian players from playing football there
Friday, 23 August 2013
Including football in Greece's political war against Macedonia, the Greek Government issued a scandalous act which bans any player with Macedonian passport from playing in Greece, reports TV Sitel.
This is a scandal not seen since the Nazi Germany ban on Jewish players from participating in sporting events. It will surely get a swift reaction not just from the Macedonian sporting federations, but from UEFA and FIFA.
As TV Sitel reports, the Greek Football Federation received a memo from the Government that it can no longer register players with Macedonian passports. The reason was Macedonia's constitutional name which is on the passport. The decision was supposedly made a week ago and enters into force today.
In Greece there are around a dozen Macedonian players, including recent signings Ivan Mitrov, Zoran Baldovaliev, Ivan Nastevski who moved to Greek clubs this summer.
Greek football clubs were stunned by the scandalous decision and few have already lodged complaints with UEFA and FIFA. As it is well known, UEFA's primary rule is that no politics can interfere with the sport, and this sort of discriminatory law will surely create a host of problems and fines for Greece.
Although there is no information if this decision is only applied to Football, it is expected that it is valid across all sports.
Macedonian football players believe their status would remain the same and continue to play for their clubs in Greece.
Friday, 23 August 2013
Including football in Greece's political war against Macedonia, the Greek Government issued a scandalous act which bans any player with Macedonian passport from playing in Greece, reports TV Sitel.
This is a scandal not seen since the Nazi Germany ban on Jewish players from participating in sporting events. It will surely get a swift reaction not just from the Macedonian sporting federations, but from UEFA and FIFA.
As TV Sitel reports, the Greek Football Federation received a memo from the Government that it can no longer register players with Macedonian passports. The reason was Macedonia's constitutional name which is on the passport. The decision was supposedly made a week ago and enters into force today.
In Greece there are around a dozen Macedonian players, including recent signings Ivan Mitrov, Zoran Baldovaliev, Ivan Nastevski who moved to Greek clubs this summer.
Greek football clubs were stunned by the scandalous decision and few have already lodged complaints with UEFA and FIFA. As it is well known, UEFA's primary rule is that no politics can interfere with the sport, and this sort of discriminatory law will surely create a host of problems and fines for Greece.
Although there is no information if this decision is only applied to Football, it is expected that it is valid across all sports.
Macedonian football players believe their status would remain the same and continue to play for their clubs in Greece.
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