Its 20th conference EFDN (European Football for Development Network) hosts from 10:30 am on Tuesday the OPAP Arena.
With 250 officially declared participants and more 300 present overall, work has begun on the VIP Lounge, which has been configured accordingly.
From a side PAE AEKEFDN and the European associations participating in the conference were officially welcomed by the CEO and vice president of the company, George Kosmas.
The official program of the conference opened with the presentation by AEK of the General Director of PAE, Angeliki Arkadis.
All her activities were presented PAE AEKwhich correspond to what EFDN seeks from its members.
In detail, the position of Giorgos Kosmas, the welcome i.e. PAE AEK as host of the conference:
“It is a great pleasure and honor to welcome you to our stadium, to our home, here in the city that for almost a century is directly connected with the historical course of our team. We welcome you all and we are sure that this will be a constructive conference, from which we will receive many positive messages for the participating clubs and for the football world in general.
So we welcome the EFDN organization, all the club representatives who have come from abroad to present their programs and those who will attend without presenting a program. Football is not only about fighting, passion and intensity to achieve any goal. It is a social phenomenon with countless dimensions. It broadcasts multiple messages to many different receivers. It means many different things to different people, states, societies.
Our club is a very typical example of a football organization that, both from its foundation and with its identity as it has been cultivated since then, has connected and expressed many more things than the purely sporting part. It is a great honor for AEK that EFDN chose our venue to host this very important conference.
After all, our new stadium is not just a football stadium. According to its official name, it is a Sports, Cultural and Memorial Center. AEK is a subject for study on the role of football as a transmitter of multiple social messages as I already mentioned. And that is reflected in how we conceived and implemented the plan to build this stadium where we are today.
In a few days, right here next to us, we have planned the grand opening of an emblematic museum with reference to the historical roots of our club, to the cultural heritage of the people and social groups who founded our club and who rallied around it, carrying the values ​​it expresses and AEK has been serving for almost a century. Because as you already know, AEK is a club with a very strong refugee background. We never forget this background which we consider our precious heritage for future generations.
The choice of the OPAP Arena to host this EFDN Conference after some of the largest and most historic stadiums in Europe is a great honor and also gives us a sense of vindication regarding the multiple goals we have always had for the construction of the OPAP Arena .
We are sure that these days we will be here together will be full of interesting and wonderful experiences, which will prove to be very productive in terms of EFDN’s goals and will build strong relationships among participants and send strong messages. Once again, we welcome you to our home.”
It is worth noting that today the panel included representatives of Newcastle, Sheffield United and Heartswho spoke about the program “Welcome through Football”in which they participate as well as AEK.
Indicative of how important the conference is considered to be, the fact that on Wednesday presentations will be made by Manchester City, Chelsea, River Plate and its representative Premier League.
In fact, a space has been set up in another part of the stadium (in the open space in the changing rooms in front of the steps that lead to the playing field), where they will also host side meetings for more specialized topics.
Besides, early in the morning before the official start of the conference, at the Press Conference of the OPAP Arena, the General Assembly (General Assembly) of EFDN.
Source: Sport Fm
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