eyewitness
told UEFA chief Aleksander Ceferin, while
also warning that clubs could be expelled
from the top flight if reforms are not
complied with.
But Nikos Syriodis, a journalist, argues
that many governments have tried to
reform Greek football and all have failed.
“The owners are only looking out for
their own interests,” says Syriodis. “Greek
football has been sick for decades.”
Powerful businessmen have long
been attracted to Greek clubs, particularly
the big four of AEK Athens, Olympiakos,
Panathinaikos and PAOK – and
especially since Greek football was
professionalised in the late 1970s. But
Greece’s economic crisis has created
opportunities over the past decade or
so for an evolving breed of oligarch to
tighten the nexus between football,
business and politics.
Becoming a successful president
of a Greek club comes with an army of
fanatical fans, which can help to protect
the owner against unfavourable political
decisions or even prosecutions, and can
help them advance their interests and
influence beyond the sport.
Shipping magnate and media tycoon
Marinakis became the owner and
president of Olympiakos in 2010 and the
club won successive league titles in the
first seven years of his ownership. Over
the years he acquired several media
outlets and leveraged the club’s fanatical
support to enter politics. In 2014 he
became a councillor in Piraeus and his
sidekick Yiannis Moralis, Olympiakos’
vice-president, became mayor.
In recent years PAOK have emerged
as serious challengers to Olympiakos –
and therefore Marinakis’ supremacy
- and the hostilities have exploded.
PAOK’s revival from a long period of
mediocrity and financial crisis started in
2012 when the Greek-Russian billionaire
Savvidis, who is also a shipping magnate
and media baron, bought and invested
heavily in the struggling club, using his
subsequent success and popularity
to buy up huge swathes of assets in
Thessaloniki, including hotels, real estate,
more media outlets and a share of the
lucrative port.
Savvidis was close to the left-wing
Syriza party, who were in power from
2015 to 2019, while Marinakis supports
the centre-right government of New
“The owners are only looking out for
their own interests. Greek football
has been sick for decades”
Journalist Nikos Syriodis
Message...PAOK fans make
their feelings known
(below and right)