Olympiakos Volos expelled from Europa League

Olympiakos Volos were expelled from the Europa League on Wednesday in spite of a Greek football federation decision to allow them back into the top-flight Super League. The federation overturned last month's decision by the Super League to relegate Olympiakos Volos and Kavala for their role in a match-fixing scandal and have allowed the two clubs to stay in the top division. The federation's appeals committee, however, decided instead to punish the two clubs by deducting points before the start of the season later this month. Olympiakos Volos will start the season with minus ten points and Kavala with minus eight points. The decision to deduct points, however, means an automatic expulsion for Olympiakos Volos, under Greek federation rules, from the Europa League playoffs. The Greek club were due to face French giants Paris Saint-Germain next week in the final play-off round before the group stage. The federation decided to keep the punishment for the two club owners, Achilleas Beos (Olympiakos Volos) and Makis Psomiadis (Kavala), who were fined 90,000 euros each and banned for life from any involvement in football. Beos, who has since handed over ownership to a consortium, was arrested in June and accused of being at the centre of a ring that fixed matches so members could make money from betting on the games. Psomiadis remains at large, although his son, Stavros, who is officially Kavala's president, was arrested and released on bail. With Olympiakos Volos and Kavala remaining in the Super League, Larissa and Panserraikos, who were to replace them, will stay in the second tier Football League.