The vice president of Olympiacos FC, Kostas Karapapas, launched a direct attack on the president of the Super League and Panathinaikos FC, Yiannis Alafouzos, by the vice president of Olympiacos FC, Kostas Karapapas, during the League’s Board of Directors meeting.
The “red-and-white” club official raised a major institutional issue regarding a conflict of interest, while also clarifying the Piraeus club’s position on the centralized management of television rights and funding from betting taxes.
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Kostas Karapapas’s statement on television rights:
“There is a serious institutional issue here that cannot be ignored.
It is not possible for Mr. Alafouzos to simultaneously hold the position of President of the Super League, as President of Panathinaikos FC, and as President and owner of the SKAI television network, without raising a conflict of interest. When the President of the Super League, who is also the President of a competing professional soccer club, uses his television station to establish financial relationships with other professional soccer clubs, reasonable questions arise regarding the independence of relationships within the League.
This is especially true in the case of Heraklis FC: how can one rule out the impression that an off-market television contract proposal might be directly linked to voting behavior in Super League elections and, possibly, indirectly to other issues?
We do not make claims without evidence. However, we maintain that the very institutional role of the President requires that there be no room whatsoever for such suspicions.
At the same time, there are reports that the President of the Super League is encouraging professional soccer clubs to breach their existing television contracts. If this is true, it is an extremely serious matter.
Such a practice essentially undermines the league itself and is directed against the Super League’s main television partner (a per-capita company) which, during a difficult period, provided financial support to Greek soccer as a whole.
We’re talking about television agreements that collectively provide over €60 million to the professional soccer clubs, under transparent terms, and have given all teams the largest television contracts in their history.”
Olympiacos’s position on centralized management:
“Let’s be clear: Olympiacos FC is in favor of the centralized management of television rights.
And it has proven this in practice.
Olympiacos was the only major club that accepted a television contract smaller than the one it previously had with Cosmote, in order to make the significant increase in revenue for smaller clubs sustainable and to ensure that PAOK and AEK also received more money.
The previous attempt at centralized management was not torpedoed by Olympiacos. It was torpedoed because PAOK, AEK, and Panathinaikos were demanding more money for themselves.
The philosophy behind centralized management is simple: you don’t enter into it by first demanding how much more money you’ll receive. You first agree to an objective and transparent mechanism for distributing total revenue.
That is why we are making a clear proposal today: we call on Panathinaikos FC to submit a specific proposal for the distribution of television revenues that will truly support the smaller clubs.
Provided that the proposal is objective and applies the same rules to everyone, Olympiacos FC pledges from this moment forward to endorse it.
With one obvious condition: any reduction in the revenue of the major professional soccer clubs must be proportional to the commercial value of their contracts.
Mr. Alafouzos cannot appear to be distributing money to the smaller clubs when, in reality, he is distributing Olympiacos’s money for the benefit of Panathinaikos.
And the basis for comparison must be absolutely objective: the amounts that the free market was willing to pay to each professional soccer club.”
Regarding funding from sports betting:
“However, there is another very important issue on which we are awaiting a specific statement from the President of the Super League.
Since last year, the government has been committed to at least doubling the funds that professional soccer clubs receive from betting taxes.
Mr. Alafouzos, given the good relationship with the government that you yourself have highlighted, we expect you, as President of the Super League, to demand that this commitment be fulfilled.
For us, the €3.5 million per club must form the basis of the discussion, not the upper limit.
And we hope that, by leveraging the good relationships you say you have, you will succeed, as President of the League, in securing even more for all the teams.
Every funding mechanism must be transparent; it shouldn’t be the case that someone pockets 5–6 million and then the teams fall apart.”
*photo source: Olympiacos.org
