To begin with, he introduced a unannounced subject –which was not in the meeting’s agenda- for EPO’s (Hellenic Football Federation) Executive Committee to discuss and thus approve his incomprehensible decision to appoint as advisors in the Committee those exact persons responsible for the darkest days of Greek Refereeing ever. He then thought it would also be right to issue a harsh statement against Greece’s biggest football club and amongst those that selected him for this really well paid position.
Let’s make it clear to everyone and, first and foremost, to Mr. Clattenburg, the EPO (Hellenic Football Federation), competent bodies and all Greek fans: the reason why Mr. Clattenburg came to Greece was because everyone agreed that in order to move forward, we had to dismantle that syndicate of referees-servants of specific interests, that we needed a man chosen by the “Big 4” and mandated to do that.
It was stated by himself in the interview before his requirement engagement, that he would change everything. In fact, a clear and explicit term of the agreement has been that Mr. Clattenburg would have only foreign assistants, to avoid that pressure exerted on him as mentioned in his interview.
On the contrary, we saw him picking five Greeks who were “named” as his advisors and, accidentally, happened to be the same engaged by his predecessor, Mr. Pereira. Mrss Tritsonis, Koukoulakis, Kalivas, Lolis and Iosifoglou, following Mr. Clattenburg’s decision yesterday, will keep their assisting position with KED. So, instead of Mr. Clattenburg addressing us with a despicable tone and invoking the notion of e.g. transparency, he is invited to reply to us on the following: why did he turn a deaf ear to our same questions on who indicated those five assistants to him and suggested keeping them? Did he meet with other interested individuals for the same positions? If yes, what were his criteria for selecting the same five assistants of Mr. Pereira?
Bring everything to light, Mr. Clattenburg; let the truth shine and be accountable for your decisions.
In fact, we have to stress that Mr. Clattenburg will not instruct us who our next team coach will be, but Olympiacos, the biggest Greek club, in every way, is entitled indeed to have a say, that they shouldn’t be his consultants those people who turned Greek refereeing and Greek football as a whole into ruins.
Moreover, since Mr. Clattenburg knows that we also took part in the interview for this appointment, so we do have a say about his actions and choices should he unsay what he committed to do, i.e. to change things in Greek refereeing.
However, following a ready-made and already failed formula, the only thing for certain is that he will link his name and destiny with those who cause unrepairable damage to Greek football over the past years, and he will certainly be led to utter disaster.
Therefore, instead of talking to the media all the time, Mr. Clattenburg you have to work hard and do what you were hired for against a huge salary; and this is not to continue the “work” of your predecessor, a person expelled from Greek football.
We invite you to immediately recall your decision on Mr. Pereira’s assistants; otherwise, we consider you solely and personally responsible for the repercussions of such a pre-meditated decision on Greek refereeing.
