Tuesday 5 April 2016 17:54, UK
Greece is facing a FIFA ban over a government decision to suspend the country's major club cup competition because of fan violence.
Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis called off the Greek Cup last month following violence at the semi-final between PAOK and league champion Olympiakos; PAOK fans threw flares and clashed with riot police on the field.
In a letter to Kontonis on Tuesday, FIFA described the action as 'disproportionate and as interference in the internal affairs' of the Greek football association, and issued a 10-day deadline to reverse the decision.
A suspension would see Greece's national teams, clubs and referees left out of all international competitions.
"Less stringent or more appropriate measures, such as matches without spectators or international refereeing for the remaining games of the Greek Cup could have been implemented," the letter said.
The issue has been complicated by a legal challenge launched against the government by the Greek FA, which had been due to be heard at a high court Tuesday. The hearing was postponed until April 19 because of a lawyers' strike.
Greece's 15-month-old left-wing government says it is determined to clean up what it describes as decades of corruption and violence in Greek football a message Kontonis conveyed to a FIFA delegation which visited Athens last week.
After that visit, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras met his sports minister and said in a post on Twitter: "I asked him not to take one step backward. Everyone must accept the cleanup (of Greek football) or face the consequences."
Greece, winners of the European champinships in 2004, failed to qualify for this summer's tournament in France, finishing bottom of their qualifying section which was won by Northern Ireland.
