Angry announcement of Amateur Panathinaikos against ASEAD and Olympiakos

Amateur Panathinaikos raised a series of questions, regarding the decision of the ASEAD to postpone the last match of the table tennis championship and the relevant announcement issued earlier by Olympiacos.

In detail, the announcement of Amateur Panathinaikos:

“To our great surprise, we were informed this morning that the ASEAD canceled the decision of the Board of Directors of EFOEPA, which was taken on 25/1/2023 and which rejected the request of Olympiakos to postpone the matches of the Interclub Championship of A1, the which are scheduled for the two days 11-12/3 and in which Olympiacos faces Panathinaikos for the title of the Champion of Greece.

This was followed, in fact, by an announcement by Olympiakos, which speaks – among other things – of a “celebratory vindication” and of the “fight” that the Union in question is doing with every “legal” and “ethical” means for “competitive equality” and ” justice” in sports, while stating that matches must be won “within playing fields” !!!

Today’s decision by the ASEAD and the subsequent announcement by Amateur Olympiakos creates a series of reasonable questions, which are as follows:

WHY was our Association not called to intervene before the ASEAD, although it had a direct legal interest, since the match, for which Olympiacos requested a postponement, would be played with our own Team?

WHY did the ASEAD interfere in this way in a decision concerning the competitive activity and did not take into account when issuing the decision what happened in the SEF hall on 2/25/2023, when the President of Amateur Olympiakos, the Coach Department, members of the Board of Directors and “active members”, as stated by Olympiacos in its relevant announcement, literally invaded the room where the first – after the era of the Covid – 19 – pandemic Board of Directors of EFOEPA was being held, threatening and inciting President and members of the Board of the Federation?

WHY did the ASEAD not take into account that Olympiacos within one calendar year has requested 4 postponements of games and even in a Championship that is held over 5 weekends?

WHY did the Olympiakos team, the one and only time they asked for a postponement and it was not granted, NOT COME DOWN TO COMPETE? And in case the Piraeus Association does not remember, this is the case of the Men’s Local Cup, which was held the previous year.

WHY did the competent authorities not call the President of Amateur Olympiakos, the Coach of the Department and anyone else responsible for what happened at the Board of the Federation in the hall of the SEF on 25/2 to an apology, when Amateur Olympiacos himself admitted in a related announcement that the above persons intervened in the Board of Directors of EFOEPA and, in fact, one month after the Federation’s decision to postpone?

And after everything that happened in the SEF hall on 2/25, will this particular place, in which Ms. Christina Tsiligiri is the director, continue to be considered a safe place to hold the sport of table tennis?

Unfortunately, after all the above, Olympiacos talks about “meritocracy” and “justification” and about championships that are won “within the playing fields”, when, everyone who deals with Greek Sports in the slightest, knows how many times the Piraeus Association has appeals in almost all sports to the Courts to “win” championships which he could not and did not deserve to conquer in any case.

Regarding our athlete, Panagiotis Gionis, who has participated 5 times in the Olympic Games and is mentioned in the announcement of Amateur Olympiakos, we would like to mention that this is an unfair targeting of this athlete on behalf of the Piraeus Association, since, as they themselves admit in their announcement, although he had the right to vote, he asked to be excluded and not to vote on the day the decision was made to postpone the games on the two days of 11-12/3 by the Board of the Federation.

After all the above, the Panathinaikos Athletic Club DEMANDS once again that the competent Authorities and the EFIP be taken IMMEDIATELY for the exemplary punishment of those responsible and all those who wish to list titles and championships by manipulating institutions and Authorities.

Unfortunately for them, not all sports fans have a “weak memory” and some remember and do not forget the “methods” they use.

Finally, we would like to express the wish and hope that the Piraeus Association will appear in the stadiums the next time it has some objection to win the games inside the playing fields, as it claims to do. Besides, it also has worthy Greek athletes…

However, the Panathinaikos Athletic Club will be there to compete. Because as a BIG CLUB, it knows not only how to win but also how to lose, always within playing fields…”.