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Greek Rugby League: Forced to play matches after midnight in undisclosed locations due to a certain other sport


Chamey

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The guy running the account then goes on to clarify that what happened is that the Government decided that RL was part of the pentathlon, and 'gave' it to the pentathlon organisation, the head of which used RL as his plaything, and now tries to shut down any RL activity after he got ousted  

 

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If you have a contact for these guys, advise them to contact World Bank. 

Its not hard to do that, and accusations of corruption (If thats what he is doing) do get through to them.

The place is only kept afloat through the government being funded, and whilst it won't single handedly change anything, if this bloke, or any officials are dodgy, the people who change that are the ones who fund them.\

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It's a very messed up and sad situation. I hope it can get resolved in a positive way. Access to play the sport of your choosing does start to come into human rights terriory and that another sport goes against this, its terrible. 

I don't know what to say as unfortunately this has happened alot.. Morocco I'm aware at one point had some RL going, and people who are more educated on all this than me will be able to speak of countless others. 

The RLIF need to find a voice on this as basic access to RL in every nation, particularly union strong holds should be a goal..... And it's more important than the WC or other things as ultimately we have to give people a opportunity to play and as we are a game of the people and if anything somewhat of a socialist game that has always been a driver of equality and progress, it's vital as a sport we are trying to do more.... 

Forgive me if I'm a bit emotional here, just I love RL as much for how accepting and progressive a sport it has generally been historically as well as for the on field play..... 

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Am I missing something here? Does the politician in question have links to union or is he just peed off because he had his power over RL taken off him by the RLEF and the RLIF? I can’t see any reference to union in this thread other than inference. From what I can see this ‘certain other sport’ is modern pentathlon.

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1 hour ago, deluded pom? said:

Am I missing something here? Does the politician in question have links to union or is he just peed off because he had his power over RL taken off him by the RLEF and the RLIF? I can’t see any reference to union in this thread other than inference. From what I can see this ‘certain other sport’ is modern pentathlon.

It's a very strange and convoluted situation as usual. Basically it all goes back to this: http://www.totalrl.com/rlef-suspend-hellenic-federation-rugby-league/

and then this:

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/rlef-expels-greek-rugby-league/

After which the RLEF actually stepped in and ran things for a bit until a new NGB could be properly established. What happened next is that the guy who was expelled took revenge by using a loophole to affiliate RL with the Modern Pentathlon body (which apparently is the done thing in Greece) and thus giving himself 'control' of the sport once again, with backing from Greek authorities. And since then he's apparently been using his influence to suppress the actual sanctioned RL body, forcing them to act under cover of darkness.

The guy's name is Tasos Pantazidis, not sure of his background or motivation but he's also the guy behind the 'World Rugby League' thing which purports to be a rival RLIF and allegedly is preventing recognition from SportsAccord (and has been suggested is some sort of RU conspiracy, but I don't know anything about that). Not sure how he has seemingly been able to get both the Greek government and SportsAccord to back him over the RLIF, RLEF, Greek RLA and others but there you go. This thing has been through the courts though, this was last year allowing the GRLA to field a national team without obstruction and so participate in the RLWC qualifiers:

http://rlif.com/article/8331/court-upholds-greek-rugby-league-association-position

But who knows what's going on there now. I'm sure some of our European posters will know more about this than me.

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1 hour ago, Southerner80 said:

I don't know what to say as unfortunately this has happened alot.. Morocco I'm aware at one point had some RL going, and people who are more educated on all this than me will be able to speak of countless others. 

New Zealand

England

Solomon Islands

Morocco

United Arab Emirates

Serbia

Japan

France

South Africa

Thailand

 

Off the top of my head.

I would love to see a book written about it. Or a documentary series.

I'm sure there's plenty more.

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2 hours ago, Southerner80 said:

I don't know what to say as unfortunately this has happened alot.. Morocco I'm aware at one point had some RL going, and people who are more educated on all this than me will be able to speak of countless others.

A lot of problems occur due to officially-recognized RU bodies claiming that RL is a type of 'rugby' and so falls under their jurisdiction, meaning any RL groups that spring up are operating illegally and challenging their (and by extension, the government's) authority. And because they tend to have long-standing affiliations the government just take their word for it and shut them down without understanding that it's a totally different sport. That isn't the case here though, this is a rogue operative using loopholes to try and suppress RL for his own reasons. Which again sadly is not an uncommon theme.

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1 hour ago, Evil Homer said:

A lot of problems occur due to officially-recognized RU bodies claiming that RL is a type of 'rugby' and so falls under their jurisdiction, meaning any RL groups that spring up are operating illegally and challenging their (and by extension, the government's) authority. And because they tend to have long-standing affiliations the government just take their word for it and shut them down without understanding that it's a totally different sport. That isn't the case here though, this is a rogue operative using loopholes to try and suppress RL for his own reasons. Which again sadly is not an uncommon theme.

With that logic shouldn't union be under Fifa as its a type of football?

Union showing its fear of Rugby League again

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A book about all the ###### that Rugby League has had to face over the years would be a cracking read.

When I see stuff like this I have to say part of me thinks we should just scrap the name Rugby completely when introducing the sport in new markets. Its a clean slate and would be the opportunity to start with no baggage.

 

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Although this is a story that hasn't gone away, and doesn't seem to want to, I don't see the point in discussing it again because of the number of participants who will avoid comment and act like it's an unimportant issue.

Silence is assent or whatever!

Added to that it'll end up on the cross code nonsense where everyone will pretend it never happens.

2 warning points:kolobok_dirol:  Non-Political

 

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Yorkshire Knight said:

Unless it has been proven that union is behind this, it’s probably best not to let hatred for the sport fuel baseless accusations and speculation 

To be fair, there’s no indication at all that it’s anything to do with Union, I just found it curious how little coverage there was of this. 

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1 hour ago, Damien said:

A book about all the ###### that Rugby League has had to face over the years would be a cracking read.

When I see stuff like this I have to say part of me thinks we should just scrap the name Rugby completely when introducing the sport in new markets. Its a clean slate and would be the opportunity to start with no baggage.

While losing the name "Rugby" might help with the people the game wants to attract in new territories, it would be a surrender to the people who banned the French from using the word for so long, and wouldn't lessen the grudge held by certain people in the other code one iota.

And there will be RU people in those new territories who won't be fooled for a second by a disingenuous new name.

Let me never fall into the vulgar mistake of dreaming that I am persecuted whenever I am contradicted.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

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20 minutes ago, Chamey said:

To be fair, there’s no indication at all that it’s anything to do with Union, I just found it curious how little coverage there was of this. 

If there’s a World Rugby League link, then I am less doubtful there’s no indication of RU sticky little grubby fingers in this mess...

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13 hours ago, Chamey said:

The guy running the account then goes on to clarify that what happened is that the Government decided that RL was part of the pentathlon, and 'gave' it to the pentathlon organisation, the head of which used RL as his plaything, and now tries to shut down any RL activity after he got ousted  

 

Can we stop working with people involved in the game who are aiding this.

The Rugby League press don't want to acknowledge this issue exists.

People involved with the following should be called out for what they are doing.

http://www.worldrugbyleague.org/news.html

 

 

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7 hours ago, GeordieSaint said:

If there’s a World Rugby League link, then I am less doubtful there’s no indication of RU sticky little grubby fingers in this mess...

It literally is the guy behind World Rugby League. Pantazidis founded that 'organization' with the rebel Italians after both he and they were blacklisted by the RLEF. Again, no idea if there is a Union link in any of it or not. I know some people have tried to claim there is.

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9 hours ago, The Future is League said:

With that logic shouldn't union be under Fifa as its a type of football?

Union showing its fear of Rugby League again

It's more akin to field hockey trying to claim control of ice hockey. The problem is that RL and RU are on the surface pretty similar, and with 7's also being recognized as part of RU then it's very easy for them to claim that RL is just another variation of their sport. And to government ministers who have no idea what RL is and have never heard of it before then people trying to claim that RL is a different sport won't really be taken seriously, especially when the Union guys are telling them that it's not. And siding with the RL newcomers or even investigating the issue properly would inevitably cause legal problems with the established Union people who they have been working with and known for years, so often they just don't bother. That's what has happened in a number of countries anyway such as UAE and Morocco. Makes you appreciate the due processes in this country more TBH.

Again that is not what has happened in Greece though, RL has been absorbed into Modern Pentathlon by someone who is trying to sabotage things, it's part of a loophole in Greek law where sports which are seeking government recognition but don't have a certain level of membership to meet criteria by themselves can affiliate with federations of more established sports and then form sub-committees within that sport's federation which allows them to gain government recognition that way. And Pantazidis has successfully affiliated RL with Modern Pentathlon so now he 'controls' the sport. Not sure if the Pentathlon people are actually complicit or even aware of what's going on, I'm no expert on Greek law but yes it might be helpful if someone tried to explain the situation to them as I'm sure they want no part of this.

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I cannot believe how many people are missing the point and 'defaulting' to blaming union.  I personally, cannot stand union, but in this case, i can assure you they have zero involvement.  Would they be happy to see any disruptions to league activity?  Probably yes.  But they are not involved, so please drop that theory.

As was mentioned, yes, it's the modern pentathlon fed.

Greece is a very complicated and unique situation.  Around the time RLEF and RLIF expelled** Pantazidis, the political party Syriza (who he's been heavily involved with for years) was elected to government.  Whenever this happens, those who are in positions of power at sporting federations are usually shafted in favour of those who are aligned with the ruling party.  Pantazidis, was moved into the ministry of sport and then soon after, was put in as president of the pentathlon federation.  He then persuaded his party that there was a need for RL to be housed in a recognised federation in order to "aid its development".  Of course, no-one in the ministry of sports objected to that, as it's likely none of them even know what either code of rugby is.  And RU in Greece is under the handball federation, as of a few years ago.  They (same as RL) are nowhere near the required 20 active clubs to form a federation, so they chose instead, to align with another sport.  RL had the plan to keep plugging away as an association until, one day, they reach the 20-club mark, and THEN forming an official federation, in accordance with the law.  But Pantazidis, pretending he wanted to help the sport, in fact "snatched" it back after having been expelled by RLIF and RLEF**.

So now the sport is in this awkward limbo, where police being called to interrupt matches is commonplace, if they make the 'mistake' of announcing match details or live streaming any matches.  But despite this, they are playing more matches now than ever, with 5 male teams and 2 female teams currently.  And getting an average about 50 spectators to each match, purely via word-of-mouth.

** RLEF and RLIF expelled him after 80% of his players walked, due to his corrupt ways.  List is too long, but mainly the unfair sanctions that he was handing out to players/clubs over the years, for minor misdemeanours (a team once got a ban for using a gilbert ball for two minutes, while someone went to fetch the steeden that had gone too far out of play.  He was also handing out monetary fines to players and administrators and expecting them to pay, despite all being amateurs and volunteers).  My point is, he was not expelled for nothing.  It was a thorough and rigorous investigation carried out by RLEF and RLIF.

I agree with the person earlier in the thread who said our best hope is to apply pressure to UIPM, the world pentathlon federation to intervene.  Because in Greece, it's clear he answers to no-one.  And it's quite likely that UIPM funds are being (mis)used to fund his little side ventures like the formation of world rugby league!  RLIF, as I understand, are already in contact with them.  But I think we as fans can also help by expressing our outrage and urging them to investigate him.  If world federations of both RL and Pentathlon can find common ground that RL should not be a part of pentathlon, then perhaps them can put a strong case forward to the Greek govt. to reverse their decision and essential set RL free in Greece.

Lastly, I leave you with this.  For anyone who doubts just how insane this guy is.  He's gone off and started his own 'world' federation.  Nothing more than a facebook page and a free weebly site.  And has found allies in the italian rebels (RU enthusiasts) and another disgruntled (former) leaguie Ikram Butt.  Here is his latest post, from just last week.  Funny, he's always talking about these "new member" nations yet never seems to be able to name any of them!

 

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36 minutes ago, langpark said:

I cannot believe how many people are missing the point and 'defaulting' to blaming union.  I personally, cannot stand union, but in this case, i can assure you they have zero involvement.  Would they be happy to see any disruptions to league activity?  Probably yes.  But they are not involved, so please drop that theory.

As was mentioned, yes, it's the modern pentathlon fed.

Greece is a very complicated and unique situation.  Around the time RLEF and RLIF expelled** Pantazidis, the political party Syriza (who he's been heavily involved with for years) was elected to government.  Whenever this happens, those who are in positions of power at sporting federations are usually shafted in favour of those who are aligned with the ruling party.  Pantazidis, was moved into the ministry of sport and then soon after, was put in as president of the pentathlon federation.  He then persuaded his party that there was a need for RL to be housed in a recognised federation in order to "aid its development".  Of course, no-one in the ministry of sports objected to that, as it's likely none of them even know what either code of rugby is.  And RU in Greece is under the handball federation, as of a few years ago.  They (same as RL) are nowhere near the required 20 active clubs to form a federation, so they chose instead, to align with another sport.  RL had the plan to keep plugging away as an association until, one day, they reach the 20-club mark, and THEN forming an official federation, in accordance with the law.  But Pantazidis, pretending he wanted to help the sport, in fact "snatched" it back after having been expelled by RLIF and RLEF**.

So now the sport is in this awkward limbo, where police being called to interrupt matches is commonplace, if they make the 'mistake' of announcing match details or live streaming any matches.  But despite this, they are playing more matches now than ever, with 5 male teams and 2 female teams currently.  And getting an average about 50 spectators to each match, purely via word-of-mouth.

** RLEF and RLIF expelled him after 80% of his players walked, due to his corrupt ways.  List is too long, but mainly the unfair sanctions that he was handing out to players/clubs over the years, for minor misdemeanours (a team once got a ban for using a gilbert ball for two minutes, while someone went to fetch the steeden that had gone too far out of play.  He was also handing out monetary fines to players and administrators and expecting them to pay, despite all being amateurs and volunteers).  My point is, he was not expelled for nothing.  It was a thorough and rigorous investigation carried out by RLEF and RLIF.

I agree with the person earlier in the thread who said our best hope is to apply pressure to UIPM, the world pentathlon federation to intervene.  Because in Greece, it's clear he answers to no-one.  And it's quite likely that UIPM funds are being (mis)used to fund his little side ventures like the formation of world rugby league!  RLIF, as I understand, are already in contact with them.  But I think we as fans can also help by expressing our outrage and urging them to investigate him.  If world federations of both RL and Pentathlon can find common ground that RL should not be a part of pentathlon, then perhaps them can put a strong case forward to the Greek govt. to reverse their decision and essential set RL free in Greece.

Lastly, I leave you with this.  For anyone who doubts just how insane this guy is.  He's gone off and started his own 'world' federation.  Nothing more than a facebook page and a free weebly site.  And has found allies in the italian rebels (RU enthusiasts) and another disgruntled (former) leaguie Ikram Butt.  Here is his latest post, from just last week.  Funny, he's always talking about these "new member" nations yet never seems to be able to name any of them!

 

I think thanks that internet and forums this lot have been rumbled.

Butts crafty he has made sure he has made sure he has involved  himself in charity work to open doors.

Has it made it difficult for people to attack him.

 

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