OLYMPIAKOS IN THE MIRE

Last updated : 20 October 2002 By editor

‘If Sir Alex Ferguson thinks he has had a rough week as Manchester United coach he should be grateful he is not a Greek football fan.

Olympiakos, who host United on Wednesday, have not played a league game in October after the Greek Football Federation (EPO) called a month-long shutdown following the collapse of Alpha Digital, the European satellite broadcaster. The club have no coach and their president, Socrates Kokkalis, is under investigation following preliminary charges of espionage against the state.

On Wednesday, a six-man UEFA delegation arrived in Athens to scrutinise the county's application to co-host Euro 2008 with Turkey. Within 24 hours senior Greece international, Vassilis Tsartas, "did a Roy Keane" and criticised the EPO for providing poor training facilities. Iraklis then confirmed they had fined their top scorer, Martin Mieciel, £12,500 for turning up to training in his slippers.

On the pitch, things are no clearer. Olympiakos are joint top of the Greek league after four matches and have won the title for the past six seasons. But they have only once made it past the Champions League first group stage and the surprise recent sacking of coach Takis Lemonis has not helped their chances this year.

Caretaker manager is former head scout Yiannis Kollias, who will be without suspended midfielder Ze Elias against United. Three weeks ago, striker Giovanni was accused of deliberately injuring an opponent in a cup game against Kallithea. Sound familiar? It is a shame that is not the only problem Olympiakos have to worry about.’