PAOK

PAOK, AEK and Olympiakos all lost this weekend in the Super League, with Aris going alone on top after snatching a draw at Panathinaikos on Sunday, in a round of games when none of the top six teams of the table managed to win.

PAOK Chairman Ivan Savvidis was acquitted on appeal by a Thessaloniki court for his pitch invasion during the Greek Super League fixture between PAOK and AEK Athens in March 2018, but received an eight-month suspended sentence after being found guilty for the weapon he had on him.

Police investigating Thursday's non-fatal shooting in downtown Thessaloniki of three men in broad daylight have identified two suspects, one of them a member of the security team guarding Aris soccer club's Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium.

Olympiakos made an emphatic visit to Tripoli on Wednesday to trounce host Astreras, while rival PAOK suffered a reverse at Atromitos on Thursday in one of the best matches so far this season in the Super League.

Aris beat crosstown rival PAOK in a bitter derby on Sunday to stay two points behind leader Olympiakos that trounced table-propping Lamia.

The Thessaloniki derbies always tend to be hard-fought, but this season the Aris vs PAOK encounter at the Kleanthis Vikelidis Stadium had some added interest from the fact the two teams are among the Super League table's top-three.

Greek champion PAOK has signed former Braga manager Abel Ferreira as its new coach.

Ferreira joined players at their summer training base in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, after signing a three-year deal, the club said on Tuesday.

An own goal sufficed for PAOK to record a precious 1-0 result at Olympiakos on Sunday, to go joint top of the Super League table with 13 points along with Atromitos. The Thessaloniki team extended its perfect record to five wins, but had started the season on minus two.

Supporters of Olympiakos soccer club clashed with riot police Wednesday outside a hotel in Piraeus where Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos, a known supporter of bitter rival PAOK, was scheduled to give a speech.

Some 70 supporters gathered outside the Theoxenia hotel to protest against the government and Tsakalotos over their perceived favoritism toward PAOK at Olympiakos's expense.

Divisions in the coalition over last Sunday's abandoned soccer league game between AEK Athens and Thessaloniki's PAOK were highlighted in Parliament on Thursday, amid speculation that the issue could also lead to a divide between the country's north and south.

Soccer prosecutor Constantinos Simitzoglou on Wednesday brought disciplinary action against PAOK chairman Ivan Savvidis who has been at large since Sunday night after storming onto a pitch carrying a gun in a holster. 

The Russian businessman faces a fine for threatening soccer officials and a stadium ban for three to five years.