Lysandrou steering Super League through more testing times 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Super League organisation is once again facing tough, uncertain times, but Minas Lysandrou is professionally leading it through the damaging crisis.

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Few expected the COVID-19 virus to have such a devastating impact on the world of sport. Due to the seriousness of the illness, nearly all sporting championships have been brought to a standstill around the world, with leagues, clubs and companies losing millions in the process. At the moment, it’s not yet clear when live professional sport will make its grand return, but the goal to successfully complete the 2019/2020 campaign once the respective governing bodies issue the green light.

The Super League officially suspended the championship indefinitely on March 13.

Greek football isn’t exactly a stranger to crisis. However, with Minas Lysandrou currently in charge of the Super League, the organisation has started showing a more professional, effective attitude when it comes to dealing with difficult situations.

Lysandrou, who is also the AEK vice-president and CEO, quickly displayed his competency last summer when helping other Super League clubs secure broadcasting deals with ERT and Nova. The fact that Lysandrou stepped in to aid the situation was the main reason why the 2019/2020 campaign began on time instead of potentially being delayed for several weeks.

The second major sticking point arrived when Olympiacos accused PAOK supremo, Ivan Savvidis, of also owning Xanthi. The issue became even more serious when both PAOK and Xanthi were found guilty of multi-ownership. With the matter rapidly spiralling out of control, it seemed that the league would have to be postponed for a number of weeks, but Lysandrou prevented that from happening despite many predicting the championship to be ruined. There was only a one-week delay concerning the start of the playoffs which, thanks to coronavirus, never started anyway. Regular meetings between Super League representatives and the Board of Directors have created more clarity while not allowing complete chaos to ensue.

It’s also worth noting that Lysandrou called a halt to Super League action before the Greek state officially ordered for all professional sport in the country to stop.

Lysandrou has put together a working group consisting of AEK, AE Larissa, Atromitos, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and PAOK which is going to put a plan together for the future of the 2019/2020 season. Last week, Giannis Alafouzos of Panathinaikos revealed his desire for the campaign to be permanently cancelled, however, the priority of the Super League is still to eventually stage the playoffs and playouts. Realistically, if this was to happen in late May or June, the stadiums would most likely have to be empty.

Lysandrou has been at the Super League helm since April 2019.

Image Source: to10.gr

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