Austerity hits Greek football

The Greek football team arrive in Dublin for tomorrow's friendly at the Aviva in good form with their team joint top of their qualification group for Brazil 2014 and ranked 12^th in the latest FIFA World Rankings.  However, many eyes in Greece and around Europe this week, will not be on the sporting battle between Greece and Ireland but the economic battle to see if the country can get €13.5 billion worth of aid before it runs out of money the day after their football team plays Ireland.

While both Ireland and Greece are currently in an international economic bailout programme, the Greeks have been  worst hit with austerity and that economic crisis is now hitting Greek domestic football.  Last month in the big Athens derby that saw Panathinaikos beat AEK 1-0 only 12,000 attended in the 75,000 capacity Olympic stadium.  When the sides played in the league this month last year just under 33,000 attended.  Olympiacos' average attendance has dropped from 22,000 last season to 17,000 this season.  In the last 12 months attendances have dropped right across the Greek Super league.  

As AFP reported, the president of the Greek players' union Stelios Giannakopoulos, a member of their against-all-the-odds Euro 2004 championship winning squad, said recently that a large number of their members from the top division clubs have been in touch with the union regarding unpaid wages.  

It has been reported that some Panathinaikos and PAOK’s players are owed money.  There are four Panathinaikos and three PAOK players in the squad to face Ireland.  Irish international Liam Lawrence, who isn't involved in the Irish squad at present, is currently on the books with PAOK who currently sit second in the Greek Super League.  

PAOK's financial situation won’t have been helped by confirmation last week, following an appeal, that they will play their next three competitive games with UEFA behind closed doors following crowd trouble against Rapid Vienna last August.  The club also were fined €150,000.  

The economic situation is hitting both high and low level league football.  One local Greek club, Voukefalas, thought they had found a novel way of fund raising when they recently signed a shirt sponsorship deals with a brothel.  However, league officials have banned the club wearing their kit emblazoned with ‘Villa Erotica’.