Fan-based group lands PAO shares
Wednesday was a historic day for Panathinaikos soccer club as its majority stake of 54.7 percent was passed on by the Vardinoyiannis family to the Panathinaiki Alliance 2012 club of fans, led by Yiannis Alafouzos.
The deal was signed at noon in Athens, 10 months after Yiannis Vardinoyiannis’s declaration he would concede his shares at no cost and put an end to his and his family?s involvement with the club after 33 years.
Alafouzos, the owner of the Skai broadcasting group and brother of Kathimerini’s proprietor, said: ?Panathinaikos is now in the hands of its own fans. It is now our responsibility to make Panathinaikos as strong as we want it to be.”
Panathinaiki Alliance is a fan-based group started by Alafouzos with the intention of saving the historic Athens club from bankruptcy, which it narrowly avoided a few weeks ago.
?We are injured, but alive, and we are trying to create a new Panathinaikos,? said the club?s new strongman.
So far the group has registered over 2,800 members, who will all have an equal say in its workings as each member gets one vote regardless of the amount of money he/she invests every year, ranging from 175 to 7,000 euros.
