Battle Between PAE and Amateur Department Intensifies at Panathinaikos
The relationship between the PAE (Football Club management) and the Amateur Department of Panathinaikos has been turbulent for some time now, however, things have just escalated to a whole new level in recent days. This comes after the Football Club owes a significant amount of money to the Amateur Department for the lease of Leoforos Alexandras.
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The Football Club owes 590,000 Euro and has to pay this amount back via installments until the 31st of December, 2018 or it can pay 500,000 Euro as a one-off payment, meaning there would be a 90,000 Euro discount. These are the demands of the Amateur Department. Panathinaikos FC also made this clear in a statement it released.
This will undoubtedly affect where the team will play its home matches in the upcoming season and Football Club management has already declared OAKA as its second option. The primary intention is to remain at Leoforos but Vasilis Konstantinou has met with the President of the Olympic Stadium, Aristidis Kouris, in relation to the debts of the Football Club to the stadium from 2013. This amounts to 1,035,000 Euro. According to reports, it has been agreed that this will be paid in installments.
OAKA is also hopeful that Panathinaikos will change its mind and make the Olympic Stadium its first preference. If things were to go down this path, the potential contract would be similar to the one AEK has. This involves paying 300,000 Euro per year, plus maintenance costs.
On the contrary, the Amateur Department has hit back in a stunning counterattack telling Giannis Alafouzos “pay your debt or go to Karaiskakis”. They also slammed Alafouzos for the damage he has created - most notably for setting the team back to -6 before a ball has been kicked and the major transfer restrictions. Their statement went onto say “pay your debt immediately and let us try our own efforts to get out of financial stalemate that you led us to a great extent”. Alafouzos has also been urged to pay on time this season if he wishes to use Leoforos.
Meanwhile, in other news, there have been no new developments in the Pan Asia takeover with the season rapidly approaching. This, coupled with the fact that the Alafouzos regime negotiating on the stadium for next season does not bode well. It all points to Alafouzos being in charge when the new season starts. If the Pan Asia takeover was so close (as presented), it begs the question - why doesn’t the new administration try to negotiate terms with the Amateur Department and make the final decision on the location of the stadium?
