Greek league to suspend soccer games for a week

ATHENS, GREECE (AP) - The Greek football league will be suspended for one week at the end of the month to protest a new law that has also drawn criticism from FIFA.

League organizers said Friday that scheduled games will not be played Feb. 25-26 in opposition to a law voted in this week that gives expanded powers to a state-controlled sporting oversight committee.

Games planned this weekend will be played.

On Thursday, FIFA warned Greek lawmakers that the country risks suspension from world soccer if the new legislation compromises the national federation’s operational independence.

“Football has become a punch bag for irresponsible politicians,” league organizers said in a statement. “They are the same politicians who have plunged Greece into bankruptcy and international scorn, the same people who cannot deal with the country’s problems.”

The government argues the provisions in the new law are necessary to clean up professional leagues amid an ongoing investigation into match-fixing.

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