Alafouzos: “PAO has never been involved in complaints about ill-treatment of referees or scandals”

THE Yannis Alafouzoswho rarely gives interviews, spoke to the British Daily Mail and addressed a number of issues. His strong man Panathinaikou he spoke about corruption, which… lives and reigns in Greek football, while he talked about the case of the illegal betting ring, the attacks on foreign referees, the EPO and, of course, about the ambitions of the “clover”.

Yannis Alafouzou’s interview with the Daily Mail in detail:

On corruption in Greek football and the recent case of the illegal betting ring: “Since I was a child I have always believed that teams cannot be owned by business people, they belong to the fans. There have been many allegations of scandals and match-fixing, but few convictions. I think things have changed and everyone has tried to improve governance in Greek football for several years, but I have some reservations and we may backtrack again.

There have been many complaints and reports in the press and I believe that the EPO should have taken more steps and reacted more quickly. We had a meeting last week where there was a committee of professional football clubs and the federation, we made our pitch and it was accepted. We hope that the necessary research will now be done. The federation needs to get better at maintaining higher standards. We have had an issue over the years that they have not lived up to expectations. UEFA has had to intervene once or twice, but this is only the beginning of the problem.

Unless you’re being policed, anyone can be tempted to not follow the rules. The federation must be done stricter and more effective in dealing with issues. We for our part are working hard for it. We have written letters to UEFA and the Hellenic Football Federation and visited them, asking them to raise ethical standards and oversight of what is going on and I hope this will have some impact».

On the attacks against foreign referees in the Greek league: “I wish we treated the referees in a better way. All these years, Panathinaikos has never been involved in referee abuse allegations or scandals and we try to show respect to officials and opponents. I hope more and more teams see that there is another way».

For this season of Panathinaikos: “We are very excited, hopefully we will do well. It is very important for us, as we have done a lot of work. We will be happy if we get through to the group stage, we will huge difference financially. I believe that our income they will probably triple, which will only have positive effects on the team. Panathinaikos expects to improve its level, because we want our team to become better known internationally and to increase its fan base. We are also expanding our training ground and building a new pitch. Last year we had more fans at the games compared to all previous years, things are slowly progressing and I hope we don’t make big mistakes that will set us back. When I got involved with Panathinaikos in 2012 it was a very tough fight, especially as it coincided with the huge financial problems of Greece, so it was a very difficult time. But in the last few years we have been able to deal with our financial issues and invest more and more in the team and the facilities».

For Greek football: “It can be very exciting and first division football keeps getting better but I would like to see Greece ranked higher among UEFA countries. Big investments have been made in the top football teams and I hope we do well in Europe not only for our team but also for our national teams so that we get more participation in European football. The income that can be generated from this is very important for the Greek teams. At the end of the day, it’s not just about the glory, it’s about the money».