Club chief’s motives are questioned
Pavlos Yiannakopoulos, the club president at Panathinaikos’s basketball division and holder of a majority stake in the European champion, announced Wednesday that he has reached an irrevocable decision to step down and eventually sell out, but some insiders suggested yesterday that the entrepreneur’s move could actually be a reaction against a draft law intended to promote transparency and legality in Greek sports. The proposed legislation was presented by the government on Tuesday, a day before Yiannakopoulos’s announcement. During his presentation of the proposed legislation – whose details include the annual obligatory tabling of fund-source declarations (pothen esches) by sports club board members and shareholders with stakes of at least 1 percent – Culture Minister Evangelos Venizelos said shareholders would be forced into the light. Breaking the news, Yiannakopoulos said his brother would assume the president’s post for the new season, while an appropriate buyer was sought for their majority stake to be transferred at the end of next season. «We met, discussed and agreed. I knew that this team met all the requirements for me to reach my personal goals. I didn’t need to search elsewhere,» said Hadzis.
