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| - The Greek professional football players' association (PSAP) on Tuesday praised Aris Thessaloniki goalkeeper Marios Siampanis for revealing a bribery attempt made over the weekend. Siampanis on Monday sent letters to the Greek football federation and Super League reporting that he was "approached before the Aris-PAOK derby in Thessaloniki on Sunday to give a poor performance." "PSAP as the custodian of the sport itself and with great respect in the process of the game, actively participating in various programs to combat manipulated games with any motive, applauds its members who have the courage and duty to denounce such practices," the association said in a statement. Siampanis testified on Monday before a Sports Violence Department prosecutor who is investigating the case. Aris won the Super League contest 1-0 and moved into second place in the standings with 26 points, two more than third-place PAOK. Olympiakos top the table with 28 points. "We stand by the side of Marios who received defamatory comments and also physical threats against himself and his family. The case is now in the hands of the Greek judicial authorities, which are the only institutions capable of administering justice," PSAP said. PAOK said in a statement that "we are waiting to see which committee those who are setting up conspiracies against PAOK will use to try to escape now, and now they will justify, to all the domestic and international bodies, the alleged bribery attempt that they have tried to set up. Those that dig the pits will find themselves residing in them." PAOK accused bitter rivals Olympiakos of being behind the bribery attempt. The league leaders responded with accusations of their own. "Once again PAOK avoids talking about the substance of the matter and the people around the team who carried huge sums of money in bags in order to bribe and intimidate an Aris player or players. Instead, PAOK chooses to attack Olympiakos, its executives, their relatives and even teams outside Greece in a vulgar way," Olympiakos said in a statement. Olympiakos squad said that "everything is now in the hands of justice." "With respect to the Greek justice, Olympiakos will closely monitor the developments and together with all the fans we expect everything to come to light, by people with 'clean' hands who will punish the guilty and expel them from Greek football," Olympiakos said. le/pb
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