Departures expected at Aris
Aris’s Spanish coach Juan Carlos Oliva appeared set to depart the Thessaloniki soccer club last night following a rift between the club’s administration and a highly ranked team official from Spain whose dealings brought both the coach and several imported players to the team. The development is expected to set off a domino effect that could cause the eventual loss of these players as well. Relations between the team official, Emanuel Ferrer, and the Greek club’s president, Lambros Skordas, have deteriorated in recent weeks as a result of the latter’s refusal to sell Aris’s management division to Onze, a sports company run by Ferrer. Ferrer was quoted by local press as threatening to sever ties within days with Aris, a UEFA Cup qualifier, should Skordas not agree to sell the club’s management division which includes the control of transfer deals. During his year or so at Aris, Ferrer has lured eight imported players – four Spaniards, three Brazilians and a Slovak – as well as Oliva, the latest of several coaches fired and hired at Aris during Ferrer’s tenure. Oliva has coached Aris for just one official game, last weekend’s season opener against Panionios, a scoreless draw at home. Reports last night said Aris’s administration was already scouting around for a new coach. Serb-Greek Dusan Bajevic, who led AEK, Olympiakos and PAOK to titles in a lengthy coaching spell that is considered the most successful in modern Greek soccer, was cited as the top-priority successor. Former top-scoring striker Nikos Anastopoulos, who has coached several clubs in recent seasons, was also mentioned as a possible replacement for Oliva. Reports said that Bajevic, currently unemployed following a sour coaching stint at Red Star Belgrade where he had excelled as a player, was assessing the Aris offer. Oliva’s departure would be the second coaching change in the Super League with just a round played. PAOK sacked Giorgos Paraschos after a 1-0 loss at Xanthi last weekend. Portuguese coach Fernando Santos, previously at Benfica, will take over. Meanwhile, Athens club AEK proved too weak for Spanish club Sevilla in Monday night’s return leg for a group place in the Champions League. Sevilla demolished AEK 4-1 in Athens after having also won its home leg, 2-0. The second leg was rescheduled as a result of the death of Sevilla’s 22-year-old defender Antonio Puerta last week.
