Ivan Savvidis

Controversial PAOK owner accused of acting as a Russian agent

- James Montague

Prior to March 11 this year, very few people outside of Greece had heard of Ivan Savvidis. At 59, the Russian-Greek oligarch, who got rich in tobacco and is considered a close political ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, looks more like a kindly uncle than anything else.

But in the closing moments of a Greek Superleague game between PAOK – who he bought in 2012 – and AEK, he briefly became the most famous football club owner in the world.

With both sides vying for top spot, a last-minute goal for PAOK looked to have put them in pole position for a first title since 1985. But then the goal was ruled offside and chaos ensued. Savvidis went on to the pitch to remonstrate with the referee...with a gun holstered on his hip.

The match was abandoned, the pictures and video went viral, and the league was suspended amid much soul searching about the state of the game in Greece, which has been mired by fan violence, intimidation and match fixing for years. FIFA even set up a monitoring committee with the threat of Greece being expelled altogether – a fate dubbed “Grexit” in the local media.

Savvidis was banned from football for three years, AEK were awarded the three points and PAOK were deducted a further three points – all of which proved crucial as AEK won the league for the first time in 24 years.

But the gun incident did more than cost PAOK the title; it also focused attention on the super-rich and the politically connected in Greek football.