Savvidis, PAOK deny Xanthi ownership allegations

Ivan Savvidis, who is the supremo of PAOK, has been accused of owning fellow Super League club Xanthi by Olympiacos.

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Recently, the ONE Channel in Greece - which is operated by Olympiacos boss Evangelos Marinakis - reported that Savvidis, 60, possesses ownership of Xanthi through Cypriot company RFA. In 2018, Ioannis Kalpazidis, Savvidis’s nephew, supposedly acquired the facilities of Xanthi via RFA for a sum amounting to 10 million euros. RFA subsequently bought the shares of Vialand, which owns, among other local assets, Xanthi’s stadium and training facilities.

ONE Channel also describes in its report how RFA is closely connected to another Cyprus-based corporation, Dimera, which has issued multiple loans to the former’s companies. Dimera bought the shares of PAOK in 2012.

Here is the report which was released by ONE Channel:

PAOK vehemently denied the accusations within a very short space of time.

Multiple club ownership is strictly forbidden in Greece, meaning that if the accusations did hold truth behind them, heavy sanctions including relegation and life bans for the parties involved would be issued. Olympiacos even requested for the PAOK - Xanthi game in the Super League, which will take place on Saturday afternoon, to be postponed.

The Committee for Professional Sport is now analysing the situation. PAOK, for their part, have vowed to press legal charges against those who continue to falsely accuse the club of breaking the law.

Initial findings from the Committee for Professional Sport support the position that Xanthi Football Club is only owned by Christos Panopoulos and Aristedis Pialoglou.

It remains to be seen what step Olympiacos decide to take next as they stand by their opinion that Xanthi are governed by Savvidis.

At the moment, Olympiacos and PAOK share leadership of the Super League, occupying first place of the standings with 28 points each. The pair played to a 1-1 draw in Piraeus last week.

by Shaun Nicolaides

Image Source: to10.gr

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