ATHENS – Greece’s conservative government has been criticized by opposition parties Political A secret offer by Saudi Arabia to pay for stadiums for Greece and Egypt has been revealed if they agree to team up with the Gulf heavyweights to host the 2030 football World Cup.
The main opposition Syriza party called on the ruling New Democracy party to reveal details about personal contacts between Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, noting that more is needed in the wake of the Qatargate scandal. clarity.
“We want to find out why Greece is giving Saudi Arabia the powerful brand name of a European country, which is synonymous with freedom and democracy,” Syria said in a statement. statement,
POLITICO revealed that the oil-rich country offered to “fully underwrite” the infrastructure costs for Greece and Egypt to help host sports mega-events in all three countries, but in return Three-quarters of all matches will receive the stage.
The dramatic proposal – likely billions of euros in construction costs – was discussed in a private conversation between Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler Mohammed bin Salman and Mitsotakis in the summer of 2022, according to a senior official familiar with the matter. The Greek government declined repeated requests for comment prior to publication of the story.
“There is a normal sporting cooperation with Saudi Arabia, it includes various actions but clearly there is no final decision yet on these issues,” State Minister Giorgos Gerapateritis told local radio. “At the moment there is no discussion about anything definite, we are at the negotiation stage.”
“POLITICO article on Greece’s ‘buyout’ by Saudi Arabia for 2030 World Cup full of inaccuracies,” Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Evgenakis Said in a Twitter post. “Contacts are ongoing between the two countries and Egypt, but they are still in the early stages of exploring the possibilities of bidding,” he added.
When asked by POLITICO to elaborate on the inaccuracies, a sports ministry spokesman later said that “the main inaccuracy is that the Crown Prince suggested to the PM that Saudi Arabia would bear the cost of the event.”
As Politico reported on Wednesday, it was unclear whether the offer was accepted by Greece. But the three countries are now working on a joint proposal to host the 2030 tournament, a move that has triggered a feedback against Greece.
the opposition is on fire
In an effort to persuade members of football’s world governing body, FIFA, of the merits of the Saudi-led bid, the proposed tournament would see matches held across three continents, providing geographic balance. Qatar’s bid to host the tournament in 2022, just eight years after it is the only Middle East World Cup, will be unlikely to succeed.
Syriza said that when in power he had promoted a bid to host the World Cup with Balkan countries to strengthen peace and stability in the region.
“What exactly is the purpose, value and purpose of co-hosting the World Cup with Saudi Arabia?” it asked,
The opposition socialist PASOK party is against the common bid, a senior party official told POLITICO.
“Events like World Football Championship, Olympic Games can be organized only with countries with whom we share a common code of values, we have a common understanding of democracy, respect human rights and rule of law said the officer.
And there was more criticism from the left.
“It is not possible that we have not learned anything from Katargat’s Katargat [Greek MEP Eva] Cali and the Greek government are discussing our country’s joint involvement with a country that murdered Jamal Khashoggi, brutalized women and LGBT+ people, and abused migrant workers,” the small left-wing party MeRA25 said. said in one statement,