For “proof of callousness and negligence of those who have been responsible for the Stadium in recent years” and “an example of the government’s lack of planning for Sports” they speak in a joint statement Member of Parliament for Drama and KTE Sports Manager Anastasios Nicolaidis and the Secretary of the Sports Department of the party Thanasis Zannias, on the occasion of the static adequacy problem presented by the Calatrava canopy at OAKA.

“This is yet another colossal failure of the ‘staff’ state, yet another feat in its long list of ‘successes’. We expect clear explanations from the government on how from the “vision” in 2021 of “a state-of-the-art OAKA, a hyper-local hub of sports, cultural and tourist destination, with a national reach, we have today reached a padlocked OAKA”, they say in their statement and called on the government and Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis “to assume their responsibilities and act immediately for the restoration of the Stadium”.

The announcement in detail:

“We can only express our deep concern and strong dissatisfaction with the negative developments at the Olympic Stadium in Athens.

The announcement regarding the results of the study on the static adequacy problem in the canopy is a serious evidence of indifference and negligence of those who have been in charge of the Stadium in recent years and should have worked effectively so that we do not get to this point.

The fact that the stadium was closed for an unknown period of time demonstrates the magnitude of the problem, thus creating a major issue in the planning of sporting and cultural events.

This is yet another example of the government’s lack of planning for Sports.

The OAKA, the Acropolis of Sports, should not suffer the fate of the rest of the Olympic Properties, which today are completely neglected, either under-functioning or remaining abandoned for years.

This is another colossal failure of the “staff” state, one more achievement in its long list of “successes”. We expect clear explanations from the government on how we went from the “vision” in 2021 of “a state-of-the-art OAKA, hyper-local sports, cultural and tourism destination hub, with a national reach, to a padlocked OAKA today.

In the relevant presentation in the summer of 2021, the Prime Minister boasted that “OAKA 2.0 will be the live advertisement of Greece”. Today, two years later, no one wants to think about what would happen if something went wrong during a match with 60,000 spectators inside the stadium.

We call on the government and the Prime Minister personally to assume their responsibilities and act immediately to restore the Stadium.

Immediate initiatives must be taken to achieve the re-use of OAKA by athletes and clubs as quickly as possible. There are many sports clubs in different sports that pay for its use and that will remain homeless for an unknown period of time. Therefore, the Ministry must provide them with temporary housing in other facilities.
In addition to this, it is imperative that a thorough investigation be conducted on how to manage all sports facilities in our country, in order to avoid similar situations in the future. The government must also present a detailed plan to save those Olympic facilities that have been left to their fate. Citizens deserve safe and functional sports facilities.

In 1982, PASOK completed and developed the Olympic Facilities at OAKA, adapted them for the needs of “Athens 2004” and today PASOK-Movement for Change comes forward again to support their public character, with a deep belief that sport is a social good ».