Vroutsis: “Kautanzoglio should become the OAKA of Thessaloniki”

“The government’s intention is to develop Kautanzoglio into the OAKA of Thessaloniki“, stressed the Deputy Minister of Sports, Yannis Vroutsis, in an interview he gave to the radio station “Radio Thessaloniki”.

Speaking from Brussels where he is, in order to attend the Summit of Sports Ministers of the European Union, Mr. Brutsis revealed that the bill, which is expected to be submitted for consultation in a week, will explicitly provide for mandatory existence of a defibrillator in all sports facilities, while he added that the codification of sports legislation is expected to be completed in April 2025.

The Deputy Minister of Sports spoke about the upgrades being made in the country’s major sports centers, with emphasis on OAKA and Kautanzogliofor which he emphasized that the goal is to turn into “a sports facility where major sports events can be held and will be given to the benefit of the sports youth of Thessaloniki, but also to all sportsmen of the city, with modern and fully accessible facilities». Mr. Brutsis repeated it unprecedented increase in the financing of all the EAKs, but especially of Kavtanzoglio, by 150% per year, which is also the largest of any other National Sports Center. He pointed out that Kautanzoglio it is already in use with a capacity of 8,200 spectators and the goal is, once the relevant studies are completed, for the Stadium to reach its full capacity. Already, he added, the major issue of fire safety is being resolved, a study is being prepared for the energy upgrade of its premises, while smaller and larger interventions around the stadium are progressing.

Answering a question related to the proposal of the mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis, to hold the Mediterranean Games in Thessaloniki, Yiannis Vroutsis commented that “extroversion and major events are a goal of the Government’s sports policy, but all the conditions need to be ensured first, so that we can proceed seriously and responsibly with announcements». He emphasized the excellent relations with the mayor and their cordial cooperation in many areas, announced the launch of Triandria, while revealing that “soon Mr. Angeloudis will announce something we both agreed on last Sunday when we met in Thessaloniki, and it will be another project for the benefit of Greek sports and the city».

Referring to his work “Little 4”which will house the National basketball teams, the Deputy Minister of Sports emphasized that it will work supportive and to the needs of other team sports, as its programming contract with the Region of Central Macedonia will be ready within the next few days. The project will cost 1.2 million eurothe 700,000 from the resources of the Ministry of Sports and the 500,000 from the Region, with a schedule of completion in the first quarter of 2026.

With regard to the new Bill, which is to be submitted for consultation (the third during his tenure at the Ministry), Mr. Vroutsis focused on the legal obligation of all sports facilities in the country to have defibrillators during their operation. “Otherwise they won’t be able to work for any reason” was his characteristic statement. In addition, he emphasized that the codification of sports legislation is expected to be completed in April 2025, so “the sports family will finally have a new modern, simple and understandable law, while now we are entangled with complex provisions that overlap each other and their meaning is lost».

Finally, Mr. Vroutsis openly supported the reinstatement of sports schools, which was announced by the Minister of Education, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, last week, pointing out that the optimal process for their re-establishment needs to be found, as their necessity exists.