The issue of the delay in the concession of SEF to Olympiakos was one of those raised in Sasha Vezenkov’s presentation after a related question, with the Angelopoulos brothers taking a position on it, as well as on the fact that OAKA was granted last summer to Panathinaikos .
In detail, the presidents of Olympiakos stated:
Panagiotis Angelopoulos: “The season that will start in the EuroLeague is the last one where there will be no limit. Then a three-year plan will begin, to balance things out somewhat and reduce budgets. There will be rookie player, star player exemptions, per NBA standards. After this season there will be a rationalization. Like in the NBA, where you pay a fine when you go over the limit. It’s a solution we’re in favor of. We’ve been used to this style of budgeting for years, so maybe we’re superior to the big teams that didn’t have a limit on their budgets.
The discussion with the Government is now three years old, always in a good atmosphere. The delay (s.s. in granting the SEF) is not due to us, we do not have any unreasonable demand. The Government must realize that one team having its own stadium, building suites, booking concerts and us not having, is not in anyone’s interest. Neither the sport, nor the government.
Even Giannakopoulos himself should have understood it. Healthy competition favors him too. Coming out with posts and threatening about the air condition in SEF and what will happen. This does no one any good.
The fact that he has his own stadium and we don’t even compete… how the big fans see it, If he wants to sell Panathinaikos too – I’m not saying this to make a joke, he has said this himself – he doesn’t benefits this.
It benefits him to have equal competition. We all benefit from this. For one team to have its own stadium and another not, does not benefit anyone”.
Giorgos Angelopoulos: “On the issue of unfair competition. Before we go to the European level, which is dealt with by the salary cap that Panagiotis told you about. It is something that will be done gradually, not violently, in a smooth way, over time a rationalization will occur.
It will sound somewhat, but essentially Europe is getting closer to the philosophy of Olympiakos. It is not possible for one to have a budget of 30 million and the other 10. This is dealt with over time, with the consent of all the teams, this is important, because the Spanish teams also agreed.
Regarding the issues of Greece, unfortunately the concession of OAKA is a classic case of creating conditions of unfair competition. The concession has been made in an illegal manner, which there is no reason to extend.
He has created a competitive advantage in Panathinaikos. It has a state-of-the-art, large basketball court. Unlike Olympiakos, where you know what the state of the pitch is.
It is the definition of unfair competition. A lot has happened, the laws have changed. We don’t want to go into details.
We have been talking with the Government for over three years. Nothing has happened yet. We are still talking, the dialogue has not stopped. Nor do we know of anything preventing the concession. We have not been told that it is stuck somewhere. Unfortunately, the concession has not been made. Discussions continue. It is something crucial for the future of Olympiakos. If this concession is not made, we will have to consider all options for how to respond.
And when we say all the options, you know that in some things we are very strong. Let’s make the issue more detailed, with the concession made to Panathinaikos, next year it will have revenue from tickets and suites close to 20 million euros. With the name it will be over 20 million. Olympiacos will be under 10 million. We are only talking about the stadium, the tickets. In other words, Panathinaikos will have an advantage of around +10 million euros every year, just like last year, which helped them to achieve their goals. This cannot go on, it is completely, beyond all logic. I want to believe it will be over soon. If this does not happen, we will see what needs to be done”.
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