Normality soon to be a reality for Panathinaikos

Normality will soon become a reality again for Panathinaikos as the club is set to obtain a playing licence for next season without any major worries.

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Normality will soon become a reality again for Panathinaikos after three lean years. It may only feel like yesterday, but in 2017, Giannis Alafouzos infamously announced that he would be pulling the plug on any further investment into the club, as the debt rapidly increased.

Players, both past and present, went unpaid for several months, as did backroom staff. UEFA imposed a ban, and the club even failed to obtain a licence to participate in the 2018-19 Championship. The standard penalty for this was automatic relegation, but the other teams voted to change this. Instead, the team started the 2018-19 season on -6 points and could only sign one foreigner over the age of 23 in the transfer window.

However, since then, the situation has improved, and Alafouzos resumed investing through several share capital increases. Giorgos Donis has done a great job focusing on developing young players from the Academy. This has played a role in reducing the budget, and the overall debt has been virtually wiped out.

Panathinaikos have not been in a financial position such as this for the last three years. With this in mind, normality will soon become a reality in the sense of obtaining a licence to participate for the 2020-21 Super League without any major worries.

It is still too early to determine the outcome of possibly overturning the European ban imposed by UEFA, but obtaining this licence to play domestically will positively help the cause. Panathinaikos can show they have significantly improved their financial position through several financial statements.

Image Source: to10.gr

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