Greek football is set to "breathe a sigh of relief as the country's controversial new sports law was submitted to parliament on Wednesday with the necessary amendments" to avoid a FIFA and UEFA ban from int'l competition, according to Graham Wood of REUTERS. The bill will be voted on in parliament on Wednesday and Thursday after "protracted talks" between Greece Deputy Minister for Education, Culture & Religious Affairs Stavros Kontonis and UEFA officials in Nyon reached their conclusion. Kontonis said, "We have made a serious effort in order to avoid Greek teams being excluded from international competitions, with our national team always top of our mind. National teams are not clubs belonging to the federation, they are teams which belong to the Greek people and give joy when they are successful." Greek football officials were "warned initially by a joint FIFA-UEFA statement on April 22 that they could face a suspension over government interference" if the sports law was implemented in its initial form. However, following meetings in Athens and Nyon between both sides, "the state reached compromises over the sections of the bill which referred to the self-governance powers" of the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) (REUTERS, 5/6).
INDONESIA DEFIANT: The AFP's Arlina Arshad reported the Indonesian government insisted Wednesday it would "stick by a decision to freeze all activities of the football association despite a threat from FIFA" to suspend the country from int'l competition. The sports ministry said that it was "only trying to make improvements and may dispatch a team" to lobby FIFA President Sepp Blatter, after the governing body threatened to "ban Indonesia unless it revoked its decision" (AFP, 5/6).
