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Back in March 2018, an armed pitch invasion forced a full suspension of the Greek Super League, and almost led to a worldwide ban on Greek teams playing the sport. The game between PAOK and AEK Athens ended in scandal and remonstrations, as the former’s owner, Ivan Savvidis, stormed the pitch.While that is unusual in and of itself, the story is complicated by the fact he had a holstered handgun around his waist. Upon taking to the field, the weapon was clearly visible, and led to an outcry across Europe.Savvidis’ armed pitch invasion is one of the wildest stories in the modern history of top-level soccer, and it almost brought down the entire league.<script type="application/json" data-placement="fcplayer-semantic">{"type":"fcplayer-semantic","data":{"embedCode":"//cdn.fcp.codes/embed-code-template/embed-code-template.js#SEMANTIC_5704afb8-c10b-4ba5-9cb4-d7fb6098ef90"}}</script>

Soccer's wildest stories: Greek tragedy! PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis's gun-toting pitch invasion

Savvidis was born in Georgia and holds joint-Russian and Greek citizenship. A tobacco magnate, in 2002, he became president of FC Rostov and served on the Russian club’s board until 2005.In 2012, though, he took the plunge to become club owner, buying PAOK outright, and the year following, he was listed as the 30th wealthiest Russian businessman in the world by Forbes.He has been philanthropic in terms of his approach to ownership, paying off all of the club’s debts in 2013. Politically, eanwhile, he has worked with Vladimir Putin, and in 2018, received an immense windfall, as he sold his tobacco company to a Japanese buyer for over €1.5 billion.

Who is Savvidis?

Savvidis’ purchase of PAOK occurred just after the Greek financial crash, with the businessman savvily taking advantage of a depressed market to secure the club for a knock-down price.During his time in charge, and before his gun-toting rampage, Savvidis’ side won the Greek Cup in 2017, ending a 14-year trophy drought. And so despite not having not won the Greek Super League since 1985, hopes were high going into the 2017-18 season.PAOK had a history of going close, too; in 2012-13, they finished second in their first full season under new ownership and followed it up with another runners-up spot the following campaign. In 2014-15, they finished third, then fourth in 15-16, despite the headline-grabbing purchase of former Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov.Another second-placed finish in 16-17 again highlighted that PAOK were becoming a Greek powerhouse, routinely qualifying for Europe and challenging for the title. But in 17-18, they almost brought about the disqualification of Greek teams from FIFA competitions.

Strong showings

PAOK came into their now-infamous clash with AEK at a low ebb.They had previously in the campaign been on a 10-game winning run, in which they scored 28 goals and conceded just one. It was title-winning form, and they were second heading into a clash with Olympiacos in February 2018.Fan trouble, though, put paid to their title hopes; an object thrown from the crowd struck opposition coach Oscar Garcia and the game was suspended. Olympiacos were awarded a 3-0 win and PAOK were fined and ordered to play their next two games behind closed doors. Not only that, but PAOK were also docked three points, although, on appeal, their points were reinstated.They followed that up with another loss, however, going down 3-2 to Asteras Tripolis, despite scoring a 97th-minute equaliser, as Asteras would score the winner just 60 seconds later.That led to their fiery encounter with AEK; PAOK, put simply, had to win.

Hope turns to fury 

In the closing stages of the encounter, PAOK thought they had scored a dramatic winner against the league leaders. From a corner, the ball was launched into the box and Fernando Varela got his head to it, sending it into the bottom corner.However, one of his team-mates appeared to be in an offside position, and may well have touched the ball as it was on its way in. Despite the referee initially awarding the goal, a conversation with the linesman saw him change his mind, and rule against PAOK.Almost every player surrounded the referee to contest the decision, and it was at this point that Savvidis could be seen marching onto the field, his holster and gun clearly visible, motioning for his players to walk off.The game was initially halted, but was then called off, and Savvidis is alleged to have told the referee: “You’re dead”.

Moment of madness

The fallout was far-reaching. First of all, the game was awarded, once again, as a 3-0 win to PAOK’s opposition. The Greek Super League was suspended indefinitely and FIFA threatened to ban Greece from competing in any of their competitions, including the World Cup, if the governing body in the country could not take “proper actions… to eradicate all sorts of violence in order to guarantee the smooth running of the national competitions.”Savvidis’ spokesman claimed that he “didn’t threaten anyone with a gun” and pointed out that “it isn’t forbidden to carry a weapon in Greece”. That is true, but laws forbid any individual from entering a football pitch with an object that could do harm to either a player, an official or a supporter.Savvidis apologised, despite police spending days trying to find him, as he claimed he was simply protecting PAOK’s interests.“I am very sorry. I clearly had no right to enter the field of play in this fashion,” he said. “My only aim was to protect tens of thousands of PAOK fans from provocation, riots and human casualties. Please believe that I had no intention to engage in a brawl with our opponents or the referees - and obviously did not threaten anybody.”

Recriminations

Savvidis received a 25-month suspended sentence in court for taking a gun onto the field of play. However, in 2023, a Thessaloniki court acquitted him for the pitch invasion, and meted out an eight-month suspended sentence for carrying the weapon onto the pitch.The Greek Super League, meanwhile, swiftly changed its by-laws after the incident, and clubs agreed that there would be points deductions and automatic relegations for clubs involved in violence on three or more times in a season.As a result, by the end of the month, the ball was rolling again, and PAOK actually ended the season unbeaten, winning their final five games. They would also beat AEK in a trouble-free Greek Cup final, and followed that victory up the following year by winning the title.Savvidis’ actions may have had some sort of motivational effect – or maybe the effect of striking fear into the hearts of every player – and he remains in post in 2024. At least we haven’t seen his holster for some time!

Punishment 

Soccer's wildest stories: Greek tragedy! PAOK owner Ivan Savvidis's gun-toting pitch invasion | Goal.com English Bahrain

While a controversial refereeing decision given against PAOK threatened to decide the 2018 Greek title race, no one could have expected that the club&apos;s owner would then invade the pitch while carrying a gun