AEK submit appeal against Lazaros and Olympiacos
Lazaros Christodoulopoulos surprisingly decided to move to Olympiacos after winning the Super League with AEK, but the Greek champions are citing foul play. AGONAsport takes a closer look at the chaotic situation.
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When signing for AEK in 2016, Christodoulopoulos was going through a difficult time in his career, but he enjoyed a renaissance with the Enosis. In two campaigns with the club, he helped AEK return to the UEFA Champions League and win their first Greek title in 24 years, contributing with stunning goals and excellent performances. However, following the 2017/2018 season’s completion, the 31-year old opted to leave AEK, transferring to arch-rivals Olympiacos in Piraeus. Additionally, the midfielder is now the first player in history to play for all of Greece’s so-called big four: PAOK, Panathinaikos, AEK and Olympiacos.
According to Christodoulopoulos, AEK applied too much pressure on him to stay at the club, resulting in him choosing Olympiacos. Nevertheless, the Kitrinomavri have a different story of events: AEK are adamant that Christodoulopoulos had already signed to remain on their books for another year. Back in 2016, he initially penned a two-year deal at AEK with an option to extend it for a further season.
In an interesting twist, some reports have suggested that AEK actually loaned Christodoulopoulos from Hellas Verona for the first two years, before his contract with AEK was automatically renewed in 2018. If this happens to be true, then Olympiacos would have broken a number of FIFA regulations.
On Tuesday, a 16-page appeal was submitted by AEK, accusing Christodoulopoulos and Olympiacos of signing an illegal deal. These are the possible punishments in coordination with Article 14:
The offending player will be prohibited from participating in official matches for four months. In the case of aggravating the situation, it will be extended to six months. This punishment will be activated when the season begins. An appeal can be made;
The offending team will be banned from signing players, Greek or foreign, in the next two transfer windows. Only academy prospects can be promoted to the first team.
AEK will also press charges for Olympiacos to be fined 300,000 euros.
Despite the allegations, a calm Olympiacos have been very dismissive of AEK’s claims, revealing that the transfer was completely legal and neither the club or Christodoulopoulos have done anything wrong. The Thrylos management expect the story to blow over without the organisation receiving punishments.
As to prove Olympiacos’ confidence, Christodoulopoulos was included in the starting line-up to play Botosani in a friendly match (5:0) at their training camp in Austria on Wednesday.
