Teams in Greece could face a ban from European competition after the country’s deputy sports minister said he will not reverse a decision to cancel this season’s domestic cup because of crowd violence.

Fifa and Uefa sent a letter to Greek authorities last Friday requesting they reinstate the Greek Cup by 1 April after the tournament was cancelled by the government earlier this month.

A failure to meet the deadline could result in sanctions that include the suspension of the Greek federation, clubs blocked from playing in European club competitions and the national side also barred from international tournaments.

The deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis said: “I hope it is understood that the Greek government has no intention of altering the decision to cancel the Greek Cup competition due to its exhaustive efforts in trying to protect basic social rights such as public order and social peace. We declare yet again that the Greek government fully respects the self-governing function of sports federations and is not intervening in the administration, nor on issues related to sports.”

The competition was called off after the first leg of the semi-final between PAOK and Olympiakos on 2 March was abandoned amid crowd chaos.

Kontonis said that the decision was not only legal but he also pointed out that the Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) had not initially exercised its recognised right to object.

EPO has since appealed to the Council of State, which will hear the case on 29 March, and Kontonis declared that the situation would only change if the country’s highest court decided to reverse the decision he made on 3 March.

Kontonis added: “The cancellation of the Greek Cup is another preventive measure designed to protect public safety, which although particularly serious, is not a punitive measure, and the law actually provides the further step of suspending or cancelling the championship, if it is necessary. We would like to stress that the government will fully respect the decision which will be made by the supreme court of the country.”

Kontonis also rejected Fifa’s suggestion that his decision was “disproportionate” and that the state could have used less severe measures, such as playing matches behind closed doors or a temporary suspension.

He cited examples of such punishments that had been issued in the past year, pointed out that the Greek top flight had been suspended three times last season, and that problems had persisted.