The biography of Yiannis Ioannidis was presented in Thessaloniki

The “Born Winner”signed by Dimitris Karydas, Vassilis Skoundis, from “Psyhogios” publications, “opened” its pages to the basketball, and not only, people who attended the event, reminding the old and teaching the young who was Yannis Ioannidiswho passed away on October 4, 2023.

On the panel of the book presentation were the authors of the work, the daughter of Yiannis Ioannidis, Eleni-Theodora, the vice-president of the European Commission, Margaritis Schinas, the coach, Vangelis Alexandris, while Nikos Galis participated in the process with his interview.

Present at the event, among others, were the president of KAE Aris, Haris Papageorgiou, with the coach, Yiannis Kastritis and the team’s basketball players, Lefteris Bohorides, Giorgos Giuzelis, Manos Hatzidakis, Telemachos Vissariou, the general manager of the national team, Nikos Zisis, former actors and athletes of Aris, the deputy regional governor of Central Macedonia, Voula Patoulidou, the deputy mayor for sports of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, Koula Giannakidou, the artistic director of the Megaros Musikis, Christos Galilaias, who expressed himself for Giannis Ioannidis with obvious emotional charge.

Dimitris Karydas, Vassilis Skoundis focused on the important contribution of Yiannis Ioannidis’s wife, Gioulas, to the creation of the book.

“The “blonde” was a man who did not want to lose anything. He was sacrificing his health for the team to win. Whatever he had to say, he said it to your face and I really appreciated that. He was also very sensitive as a person. She knew how to get the best out of each player, which is very important for an athlete. He loved basketball very much“, mentioned, among others, Nikos Galis.

“He was a different person on the field, a different person at home. The house also had dynamism. You might argue with him, but after an hour, he didn’t care. He had persistence, stubbornness, elements that I also have. In the last year I realized the magnitude of it. What he constantly said, as a life guide, was to not bow down, that whatever we want to conquer, we should fight for it“, pointed out Eleni Theodora Ioannidis.

“Giannis Ioannidis was a huge figure of Greek and European basketball. He wrote history in golden letters. In 1971 he welcomed me as a teammate on Mars, hugged me, gave me love and “wings” to playsaid Haris Papageorgiou.

“The book is called “Born a Winner”, if it were in my hands I would title it a born leader. With his life and work, he stamped Thessaloniki, Mars, our own lives when we were little athletes on Mars. Looking at things with the safety of time now, he was right in everything he asked for, because you become a leader and a winner when you ask others to follow you. He wanted to enter politics and after entering I think he didn’t enjoy it as much as he expected. He gave a lot to politics, but his great love was basketball“, said Margaritis Schinas.

“He wanted to go back to Mars and make him champion. Unfortunately, before he could do so, he was overtaken by illness. Eleni-Theodora faced the loss of her father with modesty and dignity, which impressed meVangelis Alexandris said.

“We are not here to make a philological memorial. Giannis Ioannidis was not vain, nor was he interested in his reputation. He marked our country with sports and as a person. He expressed his truth with the book and answered everything except the many charities he did. He didn’t want to talk about them. He was a split personality, contradictory, another person on the field, another person, however, off the field. Sensitive, but also a schemer, who wanted to live until he died on the field. He had fanatical friends, but also fanatical enemies“, were some of the words of Vassilis Skoundis.

“The book is the intellectual legacy of Giannis Ioannidis. Yannis Ioannidis left his mark on Greek society. In the book he talked about all the faces and events of his career. He was accessible to everyone, it was not the star who was inaccessible. He was a philanthropistDimitris Karydas emphasized.