Panathinaikos Finances And Short-Term Future
Panathinaikos Finances And Short-Term Future
Another opportunity was lost to pick up a first away win of the season last weekend when Panathinaikos lost 1-0 at Asteras Tripolis which highlighted the lack of depth and all-round quality in the squad. At least the players fight hard and put in big efforts which is a consolation, however, attention has again turned to off-field matters as the Greens seek to survive into December and the new year.
The worst case scenario is 5 million Euro but to escape any possible penalties the club will be required to pay at least 3 million Euro by the end of November in order to head into December in the best possible state. This figure is made up of debts to creditors and operating expenses such as installments to the playing group and excludes tax. The pending money from the Vlachodimos sale will help and now it is rumoured Finnish international Robin Lod could be the next headed for the exit doors in a bid to raise further funds as he is linked with a move to Standard Liege. Manager Marinos Ouzounidis will be keen to retain as many players as possible to bolster on-field results but a trade-off will have to be made. This will make the jobs of those running the club even harder as they have more parties to appease.
The one big positive is that the first steps in the right direction have been made due to the fact that coaching staff as well as academy staff have been paid what they were owed up until October. In addition to this, a group of players have received their wages, bonuses and other supplementary benefits for September. This group includes a vast amount of new summer signings in the form of Chavez, Luciano, Cabezas and Kolovetsios. A similar effort will be made in the near future in relation to the remainder of players in an attempt to improve the current situation.
Furthermore, the club could potentially face points deductions for failing to pay former players Essien and Toche in full, however, according to recent reports this issue has been settled at least temporarily. It is far from over but Panathinaikos did manage to pay Essien an installment of 42,000 Euro in October and Toche an installment of 21,000 Euro to win more time and avoid the threat of points deductions in the short-term. It is worth noting that the total debts to Toche (who spent just over 2 years at the club) are 60,000 Euro, not 945,000 Euro which has been rumoured in the past. Panathinaikos stated last Friday afternoon that they will “continue to work in partnership with the parties involved in order to settle all issues.”
by Nick Tsambouniaris
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