Hercules: Mansfield left – GS takes over

Bob Mansfield made his decision to leave the head of Hercules. The American financier argued that he did not have the support he expected and is leaving the KAE in the middle of the season, with the Amateur being asked to take the chestnuts out of the fire and manage the costs.

Bob Mansfield’s letter in detail:

“In response to the announcement of G.S. Iraklis and for the information of all the fans of Iraklis, but also of all of Greece, I would like to announce that: In November 2023, promising that I and my fund will put in 350,000 euros, I came and took over the fortunes of Iraklis. The team was on the brink. The coaches and players were unpaid and ready to leave. Everything had to be done quickly. I received more than 240,000 euros in debts, which related to KAE HERMIS AGIAS (Rizoulis) and the old KAE Heraklis (Drakopoulos). Debts to the public, transfer bans, to third parties, etc. In addition, the gross budget of the year 2023-2024 was greater than 500,000 euros.

Of all the above, Iraklis owes 50,000 to third parties, 15,000 to ban and 40,000 to the government (regulated in installments). In the negotiations, the people from the side of Herakles and Hermes Agias assured me that they would help, convincing Heraklideas and Tom Papadopoulos, who until then had been helping the team, to contribute by offering 120,000 euros.

Also, Mr. Kasimatis would undertake a ban (a sum of 70,000 euros) and they also assured me that the amateur club of Ermis Agias would come under our auspices. We did not receive anything from Mr. Tom Papadopoulos and we paid the bans half and half with G.S. Hercules (there is proper evidence for this).

G.S. Ermis Agias never came under our auspices, as a result of which their management kept the 25,000 euros that are paid every year to the clubs from the taxation of the bet, this money has not been given to us until today. We organized the team, made the changes that the law gave us, we reached the Final-4 of the Elite League and missed the promotion by one basket. The image of Hercules had changed drastically.

We created a boutique, a press room, renovated 3 spaces occupied by KAE as offices in Ivanofeio, renovated the changing rooms and did a partial renovation of the stadium’s gym. Of course, we also made mistakes, the biggest one was the hiring of Mr. Sarikopoulos (which, however, was agreed upon by all sides of Herakles) who was also the cause of strained relations with G.S. Hercules, as well as the first non-granting of a certificate for the group’s licensing.

When the 2023-2024 competitive season ended G.S. Iraklis asked me to remove Mr. Lefteris Kakiousi and Mr. Kostas Kousis from the team, which I did, so that I could be on the same line with them, half-heartedly. Throughout my journey to Hercules, the only helper has been Autonomous Gate 10 and for that I thank them.

I had opposition from the rest of Hercules’ forces. I have at my disposal secret messages from members of the General Assembly. Hercules on my mobile phone. Also, many messages on the internet (for two months now) are directed at me, with whining in my face. The fund I represent and I personally invested more than 600,000 euros in Heraklis and all this can be proven in writing from the bank documents!

This whole war of doubt towards me (despite the 600,000 euros paid) was seen by the people of the fund and asked me to withdraw. I leave the team with 110,000 euros in deposited letters of guarantee, 25,000 euros retained by G.S. Ermis Agias and 20,000 euros of remaining sponsorships. I really loved Hercules. I sincerely thank Autonomous Gate 10 for all the help and support, as well as 3-4 Heracles fans for their support and friendship.

I thank the Hellenic Basketball Federation for helping (of course) this effort. I especially thank Mr. Tasos Digkas, Mr. Velissarios Chorinos, Mr. Vassilis Bartzas and Mr. Manolis Georgakas. I apologize for what I couldn’t do.

I wish G.S. Hercules to help and offer the team what I could not offer. I will be happy to see Heracles reach high where he belongs.”