“Wrestling to become dominant in Greece”

The press conference for the World Veteran Olympic Wrestling Championship and the World Grappling Championship that will take place on October 17-23 and October 14-15 respectively in Loutraki was held on Thursday (12/10).

The Deputy Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis, the mayor of Loutraki, Perachora and Agios Theodoros, Giorgos Gionis and the president of the sponsoring company Sportcamp Spyrou Karavoulis attended.

Leonakis: “The Greek Wrestling Federation has won the trust”



The Hellenic Wrestling Federation is ready for a big double bet. From October 14 to 22, two World Championships will be held. That of the Veterans of Olympic Wrestling and Grappling.

It is the most crowded event of the World Wrestling Federation for 2023 and 1000 athletes will participate.

Over the years, the Hellenic Wrestling Federation has won the trust of the World Wrestling Federation and our main goal is to take on major events.

This is the 4th major event we have been assigned this year. Three World championships and one Balkan that are almost self-financed and the benefits for the sport and our country are multiple.

I would like to publicly thank the Deputy Minister of Sports, Mr. Yannis Vroutsis. Despite the fact that he has recently assumed his duties, he practically shows that he is by our side. Minister, good luck in your work. Hellenic Wrestling will be on your side.

The Mayor of Loutraki – Perachora and Agioi Theodoros George Gionis for his contribution and of course Sportcamp for the cooperation.

Finally, I would like to invite you journalists to embrace the event. A World Veteran Championship is particularly important, as it proves beyond doubt that the will of the soul and the love for sport never ends!

Vroutsis: “Events like these help the spread of the sport the most”



The Deputy Minister of Education, Religions and Sports, Yannis Vroutsis, underlined that through his institutional role he will help the sport of Wrestling to the maximum and he argued that events of such scope help to spread the sport. Specifically, he stated:

“I welcome here at the Ministry of Education, Religion and Sports the people of the Wrestling Federation and welcome the two major World events, Grappling and Olympic Wrestling, which will be held in the beautiful city of Loutraki.

It is the first press conference hosted in the newly upgraded Ministry of Sports that I have the pleasure of serving under the “umbrella” of Education, a constant request of sports people, based on its inextricable connection with education.

“The most technical and ingenious of the sports” moreover, as Plutarch characteristically mentions in the Wrestling competition, demonstrates exactly this relationship of physical practice with the sharpening of the mind.

We have a historical obligation to preserve the reputation of the glorious and legendary wrestling event, which during the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece claimed to be the first of the first.

Wrestling, through my own formation and Education, is evaluated as one of the most important sports we have, not only because it is a purely Greek sport with roots from ancient years, but also because it exercises the whole body and builds characters.

We must not forget that Sports and the Values ​​of Olympism were born here in Greece and this is the most important legacy for us Greeks, which we must highlight at every opportunity.

We, as Sports Leadership, will stand by the people of Wrestling, which we seek to make dominant in the country.

Our goal is to strengthen Wrestling so that it finds itself where it deserves, i.e. to succeed in attracting even more young children, and to include it in school sports, as it will evolve through its institutional upgrade with the cooperation of the Ministries Education and Sports.

We now have the “golden opportunity” to connect school sports with club sports, but purposefully and not piecemeal as it has worked so far.

Mr. President, esteemed members of the Wrestling Federation.

I take this opportunity to state that I will be on your side. I will support your initiatives and respond to any logistical improvement your sports infrastructure needs.

Especially events like those that are hosted in cities in the region help the most to spread the sport, which is what it is all about, but they also contribute to the development of local societies through sports tourism.

I would therefore like to congratulate the president and the members of the Hellenic Wrestling Federation for the efforts they are making so that the historic sport penetrates into larger audiences, and for our country to become an international protagonist not only thanks to its competitive performances but also thanks to the optimal organizational her abilities.

Gionis: “A great sporting event that we embraced from the first moment”

The mayor of Loutraki, Perachora, Agios Theodoros Giorgos Gionis referred to the importance of the event and pointed out that Loutraki is ready to host the World Championships and meet the challenge. He said in detail:

“I am particularly happy to address the two world wrestling events that we have the honor and pleasure of hosting in the coming days in the Municipality of Loutraki – Perachora – Agioi Theodoros and the Georgios Galanopoulos Indoor Gym, which has been specially designed for the needs of the competition.

Our Municipality is chosen once again as an ideal venue for events of an international scope, confirming the international character of the city as a sports tourism destination.

This is a great sporting event that we in the Municipality of Loutraki – Perachora – Agioi Theodoros embraced from the first moment and supported in practice, so that we would be worthy of the expectations of the athletes and the Federation and that the event would be crowned with absolute success.

With over 1000 participations of athletes, aged from 12 to 60 years old from Greece and 32 foreign countries, visitors and tourists who stay in the hotels of our Municipality, visit the restaurants, stimulate the local economy and create a great promotion value.

With vast experience in holding major sporting events, Loutraki has proven that it will always be a station that embraces and supports the actions of all sports clubs and Federations.

Since the beginning of our tenure, we have invested in sports by modernizing our sports facilities and creating new infrastructures to meet the demands of major events.

And we don’t stop there…

We claim and attract even bigger sporting events and constantly enrich the calendar of sporting events, giving a new perspective to our country.

The World Veteran Wrestling Games hold special significance as they symbolize the strength and majesty of the human soul to fight until the last second, to conquer lofty goals.

The participation of more than 1000 top athletes sends us all messages of optimism, and teaches us how to fight with faith, to give our soul to what we love and to triumph, despite the age, and above all, it conveys to the new generation of athletes experiences, knowledge and healthy standards to reach their goals and the top.

At this point, I want to personally thank the Minister of Sports, Mr. Vroutsis, who embraces sports events that make our Municipality a pole of attraction and a focus of sports tourism, and to congratulate the President of the Hellenic Wrestling Federation and the President of the World Federation of the sport , as well as the Sportcamp sports center for the implementation of this major event.

We welcome you with special joy and pride and I hope that the experience in our place will be special. Good luck to everyone!”

Karavoulis: “We have all the conditions for an excellent event”



The president and managing director of Sportcamp, who has also taken over the organization, Spyros Karavoulis, emphasized:

“Sports tourism is one of the great competitive advantages of our country, given that it promotes it internationally and brings foreign currency in periods of low tourist traffic.

An integral part of sports tourism are major sports events, such as this one, the World Veterans Championship, which we are hosting for the third time in our country, after 2015 in Athens and again in 2021 in Loutraki.

Our company Sportcamp specializes in supporting the claim, undertaking and organization of major sports events in cooperation with the Greek sports federations.

As the Minister and the Mayor and the President predicted, here we have an excellent mix. We have a ministry that actively supports sports tourism, a federation with exceptional extroversion, which constantly claims and undertakes large self-financed sports events – we should emphasize this because they do not burden the state budget, they are self-financed – and we also have a destination, the Loutraki, which has excellent tourist infrastructure, close to Athens International Airport. And we also have a Mayor who personally supports and believes in sports tourism and that is why it has become one of the top internationally recognized sports-tourist destinations in Greece.

We therefore have all the conditions for an excellent event.

Our company, which now has about half a century of experience, serving Greek sports in various capacities, will make every effort to ensure the qualitative and quantitative characteristics, so that we can have another excellent event”.