Second Greek shutdown averted

TV rights sold
The EPAE announcement followed the €15.5m sale of the clubs' TV rights to terrestrial channel Alpha. With no better offer on the table the clubs accepted a deal which will net them 60 per cent less than their previous contract with pay-TV company Alpha Digital Synthesis SA.

No government subsidy
The recent collapse of  Alpha Digital, which owned the rights to the games of ten of the Greek top flight's 16 teams, and the subsequent refusal of the Greek government to subsidise those clubs for their losses, had caused the EPAE to suspend its domestic programme for two weeks in September and October.

Party of eight
A second suspension, starting in December, had seemed likely until yesterday's decision. Second and third division clubs will receive €1.3m of the agreed fee, with the rest going to the eight top-flight, or Alpha Ethniki, teams still involved. FC PAOK Thessaloniki and Panathinaikos FC are not among them, having agreed separate deals with pay-TV company Net Med and management company IMG respectively.

Matches cancelled
The enforced break in the autumn left a huge hole in the domestic calendar with no matches played between 22 September and 26 October. In addition to the cancellation of all games in the country's three professional divisions on the weekends of 29 September and 6 October, the following two weekends were affected by UEFA EURO 2004™ qualifiers and the Greek municipal elections.