How often have you seen football club managers invade the pitch while the game is in progress? Many times? Now, how often have you seen football club owners invade the pitch while the game is still on? A few times maybe? And, how many times have you seen football club managers carry a gun on the football pitch while the game is in progress? Probably none!

In a football match, in Greek Superleague, between PAOK Salonika and AEK Athens, a disputed goal by the referee made one of the owners invade the pitch with a gun, while the game was still on.

PAOK player Fernando Varela scored a stupendous header in the 90th minute of the game, and eventually sealed the victory for his side. The referee signalled a goal at that moment, but the happiness was cut-short soon after. The referee then soon signalled an off-side and disallowed the goal. This victory would have made the PAOK Salonika team reduce the gap with the table-toppers AEK.

One of the PAOK’s owners, businessman Ivan Savvidis came on the field not once but twice. He wasn’t alone but invaded the football pitch with his bodyguards in tow.

When he first came on the field, he allegedly threatened the referee, before he was pulled away. However, it was on the second occasion, when he came on the field again, without the overcoat that he was wearing before, Savvidis was seen carrying a pistol in its holder.

Initially, there was confusion if the referee Giorgos Kominis had allowed the goal or not. However, the game had to be suspended and the score-line read 0-0. As per the Superleague’s website, the AEK Athens team were still the table-toppers with 55 points, Olympiacos on the second spot with 53 points, and PAOK Salonika on the third spot with 50 points.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 12, 2018 06:27 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).