In Brief
Soccer shenanigans in the third division The third soccer division had a very eventful day yesterday, with one club accusing another of attempted bribery and a third alleging that someone tried to burn its pitch. Panargiakos beat Panachaiki 3-0 but the latter’s president, prominent lawyer Alexis Kougias claimed Panargiakos’s president had demanded 70,000 euros to throw the game in favor of the visitor or he would accept an 80,000-euro offer from Ilioupolis and defeat Panachaiki. Meanwhile, Aias Salaminas said persons unknown had broken into its stadium early yesterday and tried to set fire to the plastic turf. The club said some 5 square meters were burned, shortly before the game with Aghia Paraskevi. Arseniadis takes charge of national volleyball team Costas Arseniadis is the new coach of the men’s national volleyball team, the Greek federation announced, after months during which the post had remained vacant, following the resignation of Alekos Leonis, now Panathinaikos’s coach. Dimitris Kazazis will be assistant to Arseniadis, who started the season as the coach of champion Iraklis but was dismissed last month. The news has come as a surprise to many volleyball fans who had expected the appointment of a foreign coach. Greece will participate in the European Championship finals in Turkey in September. Military athletics Greece hosted the 1st World Military Indoor Athletics Cup on Saturday and won three medals. Giorgos Antoniou won silver in the shot put with his best effort of 16.71 meters, Michalis Mertzanidis took bronze in the long jump with 7.39 m and the national 4×400 relay team finished third to claim bronze. Some 120 athletes from 17 countries took part in the event at the Paiania Sports Hall. Greece will also be a candidate to host the 2015 World Military Games, the military’s version of the Olympics. Katsouranis back home? Greece soccer player Costas Katsouranis has reportedly informed his Portuguese club, Benfica, that he wishes to return to Greece. Panathinaikos and his former club AEK have reportedly tried to sign the defensive midfielder.
