Santos signs, sends contract
Portuguese manager Fernando Santos has signed a contract with Panathinaikos soccer club, media reports said yesterday. Santos, currently in Portugal, sent the signed contract to Athens on Monday. «Panathinaikos has already received the contract with the proposed term. It is a gentlemen’s agreement which says that I will become coach on June 2,» Santos was quoted as telling Portuguese sports paper A Bola. But Panathinaikos’s press office would not confirm the report, a customary practice by Greek teams before official announcements are made. Santos will replace Uruguayan coach Sergio Markarian, who quit from his post earlier this month. Santos was coach at AEK last season, winning the Cup and narrowly missing the Championship; he refused, however, to renew his one-year contract. Website Sportnews said Santos was in constant contact with Panathinaikos’s Chairman Angelos Filippidis to discuss issues regarding the acquisition of new players. (Combined reports)
