UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin to help Greece with elite referees

Jacque Talbot

• Updated: 31 Mar 2023 09:45 BST
• 1 min read

Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has contacted UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin in order to request elite referees for the country’s upcoming Super League Play-Off matches.

Former Premier League referee Steve Bennett, who earns €400,000 in his role as head of refereeing in Greece, has been overseeing the federation's choice of referees. But the displays of these officials are considered contentious and now a revamp looks to be underway.

The Greek government has asked UEFA’s assistance to reorganise its football federation with the current president Panagiotis Baltakos, a politician with reported far-right leanings.

The Prime Minister has asked Ceferin to send elite European referees to Greece to officiate the critical matches of the Super League play-offs.

A report in Ta Nea says that the UEFA President "acknowledged the problem that has arisen, especially after the recent refereeing of foreign referees and committed to try and sort the issue in the best possible way."

It is thought that the situation has threatened the completion of the championship playoffs and prompted the intervention of Mitsotakis who has since had an open communication channel with UEFA about bringing better officials into the league to ensure that matches’ integrity is not lost.