Pyrros Dimas says government made him leave Greece

The government and opposition New Democracy clashed Wednesday over comments by three-time Olympic gold medal winner and former PASOK MP Pyrros Dimas on Tuesday that he was forced to leave Greece and head to the US because the SYRIZA-led government slashed funding to the weightlifting federation he was advising.

Dimitris Papadimoulis, a SYRIZA member of the European Parliament, dismissed the claim by Dimas saying in a tweet that he "more likely found a better job in the US, rather than booted out."

ND vice president Adonis Georgiadis derided the comment by Papadimoulis and admonished him, also in a tweet, for mocking Dimas's complaint that he was driven out of the country. The former Olympic weightlifting champion said the government forced him to leave Greece because he was a member of another party.

"From the moment SYRIZA came to power, they cut 55...