New Off-Field Developments For Panathinaikos
The well-documented off-field dramas Panathinaikos is facing may have possibly taken another turn in the past few days. According to sources in Greece, iIt appears former majority shareholder Giannis Alafouzos has injected another 4.5 million Euro into the club in a bid to remain afloat until the end of the current season and meet its existing obligations.
Alafouzos stepped down and stopped investing earlier this season as he did not want to see Panathinaikos “burst” under his leadership but this new investment will undoubtedly assist the club. It is expected the repayments owed by the end of February will be paid on time. This also includes paying wages to the playing group.
Current President Vasilis Konstantinou attended training last week and gave a speech to the players, informing them that they will definitely be paid by the end of the month. Konstantinou also shed some light into the ongoing saga relating to the payment of former striker Marcus Berg. The club is yet to receive its October installment from Al Ain in full (the Abu Dhabi club has been lagging on repayments for some time).
Furthermore, it is believed this assistance from Alafouzos will make the process easier moving forward as the club looks for new ownership. There have been new rumours that have emerged in the past few days about interested parties looking to buy the club who have contact with Panathinaikos representatives. Nothing is clear yet and of course this can only be taken with a grain of salt. As long-suffering Panathinaikos fans will tell you, such rumours are not exactly new. However when there is hope, there is light.