Canadi to remain at Atromitos following Greek Cup fiasco
Canadi to remain at Atromitos following Greek Cup fiasco
Atromitos’ controversial Greek Cup defeat to AEK left the Peristeri management fuming, with head coach Damir Canadi having even threatened to leave his role.
On Thursday evening, Atromitos dropped a 0:1 defeat to AEK in the first leg of the Greek Cup quarter-finals at the Peristeri Stadium, with referee Anastasios Sidiropoulos awarding the visitors a controversial penalty when Christos Almpanis was actually fouled outside of the box. Earlier, the hosts also had a strong penalty shout of their own turned down, as the ball seemed to strike the arm of AEK left-back Niklas Hult at close range.
Following the match, Atromitos head coach Damir Canadi was naturally furious with the result, stating that he may leave Greece after the upcoming Super League match against Levadiakos: “Unfortunately, we lost today, and this is very disappointing. We now have to focus on the match with Levadiakos. The referee? Next question. Maybe the game on Sunday will be my last in Greece.”
It wasn’t just the refereeing which angered Canadi on Thursday. When protesting against the penalty decision, the 48-year-old was approached by AEK staff member Vasilis Dimitriadis, who appeared to instigate a conflict with Canadi before the situation was eventually calmed down.
After the game, Atromitos owner Giorgos Spanos gave a press-conference in which he called for the sacking of the head of the Hellenic Football Federation’s refereeing department, Vitor Melo Pereira: “This is the first time when I will speak about referees in a press-conference. In the first half, a clear penalty wasn’t given to Atromitos, and the penalty which AEK received was for a foul outside of the area. I’m not even sure if it was a foul.
The person responsible is Mr. Pereira. In the last few weeks, we have seen very poor refereeing against our team, and today you saw what happened with a ‘top’ Greek referee. We will ask Mr. Grammenos to sack Pereira and his associates. We will also speak to UEFA.”
There was a feeling that Canadi was on the verge of leaving Atromitos, but on Friday, the club released this following statement to confirm that he’ll stay in his role:
“Two important meetings were held with the coach of our team, Mr. Canadi.
The initial meeting took place between Mr. Canadi and Atromitos technical director Giannis Angelopoulos. At the meeting, our coach expressed his annoyance with the ongoing refereeing concerning Atromitos, culminating in the events witnessed in yesterday’s quarter-final.
Mr. Angelopoulos stressed to the Austrian manager the need for him to stay with Atromitos in order to continue the good work made last year. At the same time, a delegation of Atromitos players were at the meeting, and they asked Mr. Canadi to stay.
On Friday afternoon, a new meeting was held with the coach, majority Atromitos shareholder Giorgos Spanos and Giannis Angelopoulos. Mr. Spanos emphasized what had been said at the morning’s meeting, asking Mr. Canadi to ignore the refereeing and to continue the excellent work. He also added that the administration would take the necessary actions to correct the current situation.
The coach was also made aware of the opinion of fan organisation Fentagin which played a role in his final decision.
Damir Canadi stressed to Mr. Spanos and Mr. Angelopoulos that he has a special love for our team and feels that at this moment in time, it’s best that he continues working with Atromitos.”
In the Super League, Atromitos occupy fourth place, tallying 33 points in 19 matches. The second leg of the Greek Cup quarter-final against AEK will take place on February 26.
by Shaun Nicolaides
Image Source: to10.gr
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