Hello, Olympiakos fans around the world! I’m honoured to be part of this awesome group of die-hard fans and together we’re going to be covering the “behind the scenes” aspect of Greek football!
Our column will be called “Δεν Υιοθετώ”, after the notorious expression from the legendary “Δίκη της Δευτέρας” TV show, which roughly translates to “don’t shoot the messenger”. We’re going to leave formations, tactics, XGoals, subjectivity, and match analysis to the experts; it’s all about the “dark side of the pitch” – referees, managers, team owners, the Greek Football Federation, and so on.
Hopefully, we’ll get to recreate some of the atmosphere of Red Café before an Olympiakos game, where you hang out with your buddies with your frappe in hand and unabashedly talk all sorts of football gossip, rumours, and παρασκήνιο in general.
So, let’s dive straight in:
Is it true that a certain 3 person “task force” led by “Yiannakis” Papadopoulos (AEK President Melissanidis’ right hand man) who loves to travel around Greece, happened to be in certain beautiful Greek cities right around the elections of local Football Club Unions (ΕΠΣ) which ultimately determined the Greek Football Federation (ΕΠΟ) elections?
What do Mr. Angelos Daniil (ΕΠΟ Board Member & President of ΕΠΣ Achaias) and a Mr. Dasios (also member of ΕΠΣ Achaias) know about that? Did they make sure to pack their “suitcases”?
Which “big” Superleague team coach has had severe alcohol problems and has been admitted to rehab to address the addiction?
Have the people who’ve been called to testify about the bombshell ΕΠΣ bribery case been receiving phone threats? Aren’t the witnesses’ names supposed to be confidential?
Are there more or fewer than 47 witnesses?
What do Ioanna Maleskou (Mario Hezonja’s favourite Greek TV hostess) and Roberto’s (ex-Olympiacos goalkeeper) ex-wife, Marta, have in common?
Why are Ionikos and Xanthi considered the Super League 2 lock-in favourites for promotion? Are they that much superior to other Super League 2 teams?
Why did Olympiakos, who fought so hard to bring the PAOK-Xanthi scandal to surface, fold so easily when their acquittal was announced? Could it have something to do with the – then – upcoming ΕΠΟ elections and the endorsement of Thodoris Zagorakis’ candidacy?
Did the cabinet of Greek PM Mitsotakis broker any kind of deal around that?
Is Koulis Papadopoulos’ recent resurgence in the National Team based 100% on merit? Did the fact that his contract with Locomotiva is coming to an end and that PAOK will be on the lookout for at least two center backs have something to do with that?
Say, if ΕΠΟ had a price (in a parallel universe, of course), how much would that be? More or less than €8,000,000? How much would that be in Russian Rubles?
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