Panathinaikos: Open letter of 681 members of the club to Malakate about the home

Open letter to the president of Amateur Panathinaikos, Panagiotis Malakatesent members of the club, in order to express their questions regarding the stadium to Botanical.

The 681 members who sent the letter invited Mr. Malakate to an open discussion at the “Tafos tou Indus”, to give answers regarding the issue, also requesting the presence of the new Mayor of Athens, Mr. Haris Doukas.

In detail:

“OPEN LETTER OF THE MEMBERS OF PANATHINAIKO A.O.

Mister President,

March 30 marks two years since the stadium vote was held. As we all remember, this vote was carried out with a sense of “urgency” and in a climate of “media suffocation” that upvoting the contracts is the only way to ensure the future course of the Association.

The result of the ballot box was what your administration sought in various ways…

Now, two years later, the following grim situation has emerged (referring exclusively to the facilities intended for use by the A.O. departments):

1. From March 31, 2022 until today, not even the basic, elementary construction work has been done. Time flies, without the slightest official notification from your administration to the members of the A.O., and more broadly to the world of Panathinaikos, about any developments or processes. The complete absence of official information “breeds” an orgy of rumours, valid or unfounded information, rumors and speculations. No one, except a very small circle of people, really knows where we are and what is going to happen.

2. At the same time we are watching the beginning (because we are surely still at the beginning…) of an incredible tug-of-war of public confrontations on the matter between the current and the former mayor of Athens. Our position is clear, Mr. Malakate: We are not interested in the political games of any current or former mayor.

We are not interested in the aspirations of any political party. We are not interested in the economic-business interests that have gathered in Botanikos, playing an unprecedented game of speculation on the back of the Association under the complete tolerance of your administration.

We, as members of Panathinaikos A.O., are interested in:

– That you tried to hand over to the municipality of Athens, without exchange, the unique and enormously valuable asset of our Association in the most central part of Athens. The stadium of Leoforos.

– That you did not seek to include any insurance cover in the contracts you signed.

– And that the result of the manipulations of your administration so far can be summed up in the phrase: “you have made a hole in the water”, with the consequence that the Association will once again be a meteor.

3. Mr. Vasilios Pavlopoulos, who handled the issue of Double Redevelopment on his own from a legal point of view, demonstrated a “hyperactivity” in the media in the period January-March 2022. During this period he declared how “interesting and amazing” for A.O. . it was the conventions that came up for voting.

From about the middle of the spring of 2022 until today, we notice that Mr. Pavlopoulos has drastically changed his tactics and maintains an attitude of silence to complete disappearance, which gives a very bad impression since the projects are stuck while he assured us that the Association is fully insured.

4. On the question of the financing of the facilities, things are absolutely clear, Mr. Malakate. The contracts expressly provide that AEP Eleonas (banks) will be the sole source of financing for the construction of the facilities.

Mr. Malakate, the banks involved are not doing Panathinaikos A.O. any favors.

The banks involved have already made huge profits from the Double Redevelopment and if the overall project is implemented, they will make even more. If in any case (which we avoid…) you are moving behind the scenes with the aim of finding funds for the facilities from any other – public or private – body, then you must inform the members.

5. Regarding the implementation schedule, there was an unprecedented event just a few months ago. You personally, together with the main vice-president of the A.O., participated on June 6, 2023 in a mock press conference at the city hall of Athens in the presence of the then mayor of Athens. In this press interview we saw you announce – in front of cameras and microphones – that the facilities for the departments of the A.O. they will be ready in 2026.

In this matter, the bilateral agreement of the municipality of Athens-Panathinaikos A.O. it is absolutely clear (Article 10/implementation schedule) and beyond dispute.

The municipality of Athens should deliver to A.O. completed the sports facilities for use on December 31, 2024. You should know Mr. Malacate that the provisions of the contracts are binding on all parties and are not modified by “words of the air” in press conferences.

Therefore, if there is even a day’s delay from the aforementioned date, there should be an amendment to the contract. And this amendment should be made in writing and with a specific, transparent procedure and definitely with the approval of the General Assembly of the Group. Not underground, not in secret.

Summarizing…

Mr. President, time has run out. You had two whole years from the time of the vote to implement your commitments and your “vision” for the stadium completely undisturbed. “Vision” way of course they call it…

We ask you, not as a request but as a self-evident obligation to the members of the Association, to organize without delay: an open, dialogic and lively discussion on the “Tomb of the Indian” with an exclusive theme of the field. Which has a live online broadcast, so that every interested fan of Panathinaikos, located inside or outside Attica, can watch it.

It is necessary for the current mayor of Athens to attend such a discussion, as the implementation body of the Double Redevelopment is the municipality. And also, Messrs. Vasilios Pavlopoulos and Chronis Akritidis will have to attend in order to provide answers to key issues concerning their manipulations. No excuses and no excuses. With respect to your position, but also in the hope that you will show propriety and due seriousness,

The letter has been signed by 681 members of the Panathenaic Athletic Club”