Action group dissolves as Panathinaikos aim is met

Rival factions must work together, says PEK leader

The leader and founder of an action group formed recently to press for changes at Panathinaikos soccer club announced yesterday that the group, PEK, is being dissolved as a result of the current administration’s decision to open up to other investors.

PEK’s frontman, Andreas Vgenopoulos, the vice president of Marfin Investment Group, said he intends to pay 20 million euros and acquire a 10 percent stake.

Earlier this week, Pavlos Giannakopoulos, the owner of Panathinaikos’s basketball club, who has led his team to four Euroleague titles over the past 12 years, announced that he will spend 10 million euros to acquire a 5 percent stake.

Other PEK members are also set to contribute a total of 50 million euros, meaning that the plan for the soccer club’s share capital increase could be oversubscribed, Vgenopoulos suggested.

The PEK leader added that any misunderstandings between current owner Yiannis Vardinoyiannis and Giannakopoulos must be forgotten and that the respective parties must work together for the benefit of the club.

Commenting on Panathinaikos’s search for a new coach and what appears to be the end of the club’s aspirations to lure Aris coach Dusan Bajevic, Vgenopolous noted: “Dusan Bajevic is not the only candidate. There are three more candidacies of foreign coaches whose names will offer Panathinaikos great satisfaction... we want to find a coach who will stay at Panathinaikos for years and build the team that all Panathinaikos fans are dreaming of.”