The Greek football league, Superleague, will be suspended for one week at the end of the month in protest at a new sporting law that has also drawn criticism from FIFA.
League organizers said Friday that scheduled games will not be played on Feb. 25-26 in opposition to a law voted this week that gives expanded powers to a state-controlled sporting oversight committee.
Games planned this weekend will be played normally.
On Thursday, FIFA warned Greek lawmakers that the country risks suspension from world football if the new legislation compromises the national federation’s operational independence.
“Football has become a punch bag for irresponsible politicians,” the league organizers said in a statement. “They are the same politicians who have plunged Greece into bankruptcy and international scorn, the same people who cannot deal with the country’s problems.”
The government argues the provisions in the new law – boosting powers of a state-controlled sporting oversight committee – are necessary to clean up professional leagues amid an ongoing investigation into match-fixing scandals.
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