Al-Fouzos to Sky Sports: “EPO created problems for all teams except Olympiacos”

Yannis Al-Fouzos gave an interview to the English network “Sky Sports”. The new Panathinaikos, corruption and fan violence in Greek football and Votanikos.

He interviewed everyone and everything in EnglandAdministrative Commander of Panathinaikos, Yannis Alfozos. Owner of “green” PAE, He spoke In the middle of the known island, «Sky Sports»And analyze everything.

What did he say about the young man? Panathinaikos for several days Ivan JovanovicWhat did he say about It’s different And Fan violence In Greek football and What he announced about the plant world.

In detail, what he said to Sky Sports:

First, he talked about skipping school to watch Panathinaikos play Everton in the 1971 European Champions Cup quarter-final: “I came out of school to watch Panathinaikos play Everton in the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup.”

On violence in stadiums: “When fans get desperate and feel like they have been robbed, they become violent. In Greece, we have a culture of violence. The rule of law does not work. We had a situation where there was corruption, a faltering economy, a dominant team and a violent culture among the fans. People did not go to the stadium and the sponsors left.” .

Regarding the fact that Olympiacos has gone to the Champions League in recent years and is the only Greek team that has income from there: “First I wanted to say that the big teams from the big countries are seeing their revenues double. On the other hand, in Greece, almost every year the same team goes to the Champions League and gets millions, while the rest of the Greek teams get much less income. Olympiacos gets “30 million euros from its presence in Europe. So you understand, Panathinaikos had less than 10 million euros last year.”

For options with foreigners made: “On the other hand, the federation chooses Olympiacos players because it can sell these players more easily and for more money, because they are better known than the rest of the players who already play in Europe. All this has created big problems for all teams except Olympiacos. This issue has made the situation worse. “

Regarding whether Panathinaikos tried to compete with Olympiacos before taking over the leadership of the team himself: “Yes, but many mistakes were made. Instead of trying to make something different as a club, we tried to imitate Olympiacos. We spent too much. When the owners ran out of money, they left the team and were left with an expensive roster and a lot of debt.”

About the vision he had when he took over as coach of Panathinaikos: “We are still the biggest team in Athens. Since I was a child, I had the idea that a team should not belong to one person. I was a bit of a romantic. I felt that a team should belong to its fans, so I created the Panathenaic Alliance, believing that we had 100,000 fans will pay 500 euros per year.

If that were the case we would have an income of €50 million a year, which would make a huge difference. Unfortunately, this was not the case. We only had between 6,000 and 7,000 willing members and they were paying much less than we expected. The country was almost bankrupt. People didn’t have money to donate. But it was also because the previous owners created the impression that the club could pay for everything. “Moving from a model of excess to a model where everyone has to contribute has not worked.”

On how things have changed now: “Little by little we paid off the debts and since then we have been rebuilding the team. In football, you have to spend money to make things work. There is no other way. My business was doing better so I was able to make more money. First, pay off the debts and then invest On the list. I managed to sign Ivan Jovanovic, who is a very good coach. Our revenues have increased and will increase this year even more because of our participation in Europe. With a lot of hard work, we are trying to build our academy and add new areas. We are doing everything we can to build the team from “Zero”.

On VAR and UEFA’s interference in Greek football with foreign referees: Shining light on it is the only way to stop corruption. If something is done under the table, the situation could continue. Management is better today. “That’s why you see a renaissance in Greek football with four teams competing at European level and a more competitive league because before that there were people controlling the federation and the referees.”

About the murder of Michalis Katsouris: “It was tragic what happened. The police could have easily stopped it. They have a huge responsibility and have been ineffective. This is what I mean by the rule of law in Greece. Often, if you break the law in Greece, you will not be punished.”

About the banner raised in the match with AEK and the reaction of the rest of the world: “We pushed as hard as we could and the banner fell after a minute. The whole stadium booed the banner. That was very impressive. But it should never have gone up. It was a 40-meter banner. Because it had passed police checks. On the other hand, did “The police could have confiscated it? Maybe a judge could say it incites violence. But it’s not easy to stop all of this. Not with the data out there. No one can interfere with organized crowds.”

For organized fans in Greece: “It is a small minority. They are children without hope. These 20% over the years live more and more poor and all these people are desperate with the existing living conditions. In general, countries have not found a possibility to improve the lives of this part of society. This is the root cause.”

For the new Panathinaikos Stadium in Botanikos: “We are building a new stadium. The municipal government decided that they wanted the land on which our current stadium will be built to be turned into a big park, an open space. So in return, they are building a stadium elsewhere in the city that we will have for 99 years. The construction of the new stadium will give us a boost.” “Great. It will be ready. In general, we are progressing as a club and trying to be self-sufficient.”