With the presence of the leader of Olympiacos, Mr. Evangelos Marinakis, members of the Board, as well as executives of Olympiacos FC, members of the coaching staff, players, members of the Football Department and employees, the traditional cutting of the New Year’s pie of the Football Department was held on Thursday at the Rentis Training Center.
The atmosphere during the meal was filled with laughter and teasing, thus showing once again that Olympiacos is a strong family inside and outside the pitch.
Once the meal was over, Mr. Evangelos Marinakis wished the attendees a happy new year with health and successes for the team. The leader of Olympiacos, among other things, stressed the following in his speech: “This year is a very important one for our team, because we are now sure, from what we have seen so far, that we can win the league. Moreover, what we’ve seen in Europe is that we have the potential to reach even higher. Therefore, in the match against Arsenal we are all hoping for an outstanding performance and to go through.
Furthermore, I would like to mention the events that have taken place in our country lately and especially the football field, regarding PAOK and multiple ownership, which is strictly prohibited all around the world and also according to UEFA and FIFA. For about three months, Olympiacos’ staff has done a very good job in gathering all the evidence that clearly proves that there is multiple ownership regarding the PAOK and Xanthi teams. A charge was filled to the competent authorities and, after examining the entire file, they came to the conclusion that there is multiple ownership and that both teams should be punished and expelled from the league.
We don’t blackmail, nor intend to divide the people, nor ask our supporters to threaten members of Parliament and break offices. In no way we foment violence.
The only thing we ask is for the legality to be kept for everyone, nothing more, nothing less.
All this will surely take its course during the next period. However, I ask you, the players, our coach, all of you, not to pay any attention to that whole thing. This shouldn’t affect especially you. You must focus on winning the next matches on the pitch, because we are better, and close your eyes and ears to what’s going on around this case.
We have to move on steadily and passionately and I was really pleased from watching that on last Sunday’s derby at the Olympic Stadium, when playing against AEK and all of you really played with passion. This showed when the plays ended and it was something I haven’t seen so clearly in previous derbies. You have to continue like that in every match until the end of the playoffs and until we triumphantly win the league, because we deserve it!
We are a family, all together from the first moment. You all know that our door is always open for our players, for the whole team. I’m delighted to see you all here today in a wonderful family atmosphere and I see that we all have the faith and the power to move forward and to win. Let me just remind you that you should forget whatever happens outside the team, and concentrate on what’s going on inside the pitch and in training. Also, keep the invincibility, keep winning, and conquer the league because we’re really the best.”
Then came the cutting of the pie, with Avraam Papadopoulos and Bruno Gaspar finding the coin on behalf of the players, while the team doctor, Christos Theos, was the lucky one among the staff members.
