President Milonas: “We want something else, we can become an OEM”

Its president I was talking, Michalis Sakellaridis, spoke to EOK WebRadio about the difficulties that exist in terms of the team’s participation in the Basket League and they have to do with both the conversion of the club into a KAE, as well as the field. Currently the team’s presence in the big division is up in the air. In detail, Mr. Sakellaridis spoke:

Regarding whether Milonas will use the right to participate in the Basket League: “First of all, tonight we have a Board of Directors meeting. where the Board of Directors as a responsible institutional body, will make the proposal that will be submitted to tomorrow’s General Assembly. Tomorrow is the 2nd repeat General Assembly. We follow the formalities provided by the law, that the union must hold the General Assembly that will decide whether or not to establish a KAE. Announcing a General Assembly does not happen immediately, the law requires you to meet certain deadlines. And if we had announced the General Assembly the other day, we would not have made it to the day when we had to declare our participation in the Elite League”.

For the establishment of KAE: “I have learned in my life to be honest, never to hide, to take my responsibilities and not to evade. Some things happened for us without us. When at times you do not talk with the institutions, but with extra-institutional institutions and make decisions in the absence of the institutions, do not demand responsibility from the institutions. An organized association like Milonas has a Board of Directors, the Committees, the presidency, the General Assembly. We have learned to function collectively as an organized union. The result was what it was. Whether we want to or not we are obliged to do a procedure. The deadlines were specific, it could not be done earlier. Of course we want to do OEM, but we “want to” is one thing, we “can” is another. No one has said that we don’t want to become an OEM, that’s clear, everyone wants to.”

In case they fail to become an OEM: “If for whatever reason we don’t become an OEM, we want to show that Milonas is a living organization that will once again star, will come back. I want to believe that finally the municipal stadium of Nea Smyrni in the foreseeable future will be able to house the hopes and dreams of all of Nea Smyrni. It is a sin that this city does not have a decent stadium where its teams can play.”

For the field problem: “Everyone in Milos wants to see the team in the big league. My guess is that we all want to see her in A1 stepped up to her value. The ESAKE Committee came and saw our stadium, made observations, but that’s not all, there are other things that need to be done. Our stadium, in my opinion and the estimations of knowledgeable engineers, needs a lot of work to be done, which is not getting done. The big problem is that Nea Smyrni, which was once the only municipality that had two closed gyms, today does not have a gym that meets the needs of the Basket League. Milonas has his own “identity” that he is identified with this city and if he goes to play somewhere else, he is not the Milonas that the world knows. If there was a possibility to go to Sofia Befon which is next door, it is not a problem. We don’t want to go play in Glyfada, Holargos or elsewhere. I take for granted that the court cannot be used in the Basket League. If Mr. Angelopoulos and certainly another investor comes and says that he is taking over the team playing in another stadium, no one will object. However, if Mr. Angelopoulos and any third party equate the establishment of KAE with competing on the field, that is where we have a problem.”

For Milos: “Milonas is a large sports organization, with 10 Olympic sports, with privately owned 10-acre facilities, with 2 thousand athletes in its ranks. This, according to some, “failed” administration took a club, ran it out of debt, made a club with facilities that everyone envies, we don’t owe anyone, we have made teams that star in all sports. Whatever Milonas did, he did it relying on his own strength. Mr. Angelopoulos as a sponsor gave a lot and we thank him very much, but he was not alone, Milonas was too. Milonas contributed both financially and with facilities and everything. Milonas always contributes financially. Without Milo’s contribution, there would be nothing.”

For New Smyrni basketball: “In one building block there are two basketball academies with 800 children. There is no other place in Greece where this is done. In one block, 800 children in two basketball academies and with success in fact. Panionios 2nd of ESKANA in the teenage category, Milonas 3rd, the same in the children’s category. It’s nothing accidental.”