ATHENS: Super League and Olympiakos Piraeus president Vangelis Marinakis and Greece defender Avraam Papadopoulos were identified by the Athens prosecutor Friday for alleged involvement in match-fixing as the list of those implicated in the scandal that has rocked Greek football grew. Two Super League club presidents are already among 10 people arrested in the last 48 hours in connection with the case, with the authorities announcing the identities of another 70 people against whom charges have been filed. Marinakis, who took over the presidency of Olympiakos in July 2010 and was appointed Super League chief in August 2010, is accused of being involved in “simple collaboration with a criminal organization whose members seek financial or other material benefit”, and “simple collaboration in corruption, altering the results (outcome) of matches. Olympiakos issued a statement saying: “Concerning the suspicious games it should be noted that all relate to the 2008-09 and 2009-2010 seasons except one and Olympiakos are not involved in any of these games. Also, Mr. Marinakis was not president of Olympiakos at the time. “Secondly, in terms of what is said in the (recorded) dialogues, there is no evidence of any crime, and thirdly we must stress that Olympiakos monitor developments but our priority is to build the team ahead of next season.” Papadopoulos, who plays for champions Olympiakos, was also included in the list along with another high profile player, Kostas Mendrinos, who is on the books of Aris Salonika. The pair have been charged with breaching the “regulations of OPAP (the state-owned betting company) and other provisions”.
