In a lean and comprehensive Press Conference, held at “G. Karaiskakis” stadium, Olympiacos FC, represented by Press Officer Mr Kostas Karapapas, Veteran Players Secretary Mr Antonis Glykas and Olympiacos reporter Pantelis Diamantopoulos, presented to the Press Media all charities for the next period, starting with the “1st Annual Match of Love” to be held at home ground on Sunday afternoon!
“`We welcome you all to this Olympiacos call for charity”, these were the opening words of Mr Karapapas, who added: “We will present you a series of charities carried out by our Olympiacos family; a move to return the huge love that our fans cherish for Olympiacos. In times when it means much more than before to show that you are there for those in need. We start with the presentation of the “1st Annual Match of Love” between Olympiacos Veteran Players and the reporters covering Olympiacos. In the second part of the Press Conference, we will present you the remaining actions that will take place during the holiday season.
I want to make clear the following: Olympiacos charity work is not limited in holidays. Olympiacos President Mr Vaggelis Marinakis, club administration and all its staff that struggle daily to run the biggest sports organisation -and more than that- in the country, do stand by anyone in need all 365 days a year.
In fact, following an initiative taken by our club President, the Olympiacos Foundation will be established in order to undertake our club charity work all over Greece and abroad in a more systematic and efficient way.
Let us start with the presentation of the “1st Annual Match of Love” dedicated this year to the Hatzikyriakio Childcare Institution. As it may be understood by the word “annual”, we show everyone that our aim is to turn this match into a proper institution; thus, our club charity activities will be launched with a football match every year.
I would like to thank Pantelis Diamantopoulos, who had the idea of this match, Mr Antonis Glykas, who -representing our legendary Veterans- helped to embrace this idea and everyone involved in running the Stadium and Olympiacos FC, who actually raced against the clock to set up the fixture that will take place in the Temple of Greek football, the “G. Karaiskakis” stadium.
We also welcome the Hatzikyriakio staff who day in day out fight for a great cause, offering love and care to the children that really need them, as well as us; and we make clear to them that the Olympiacos family will be standing by them.
Let me remind you that kick-off time is at 15:00, entrance is free for all and everyone attending the match may bring gifts for the kids in Hatzikyriakio. We hope that apart from Olympiacos donation, lots of gifts will be collected for the children.
Now we will give the floor to Veteran Players Secretary, who strives daily for Olympiacos Veterans to be constantly on the frontline and for all of us to be proud of having not only the most active and well organised Veteran Players, but also the best ones”.
Then, Mr Glykas took the floor and stressed among others: “I bring you greetings from our President, Mr Darivas, the BoD and players of our Veterans team. We have performed a number of matches for charity and we are here once again for this effort. We would like to warmly thank Olympiacos President, Mr Vaggelis Marinakis, for all his help whenever we play a match.
I want to thank my friend, Pantelis Diamantopoulos, for this wonderful idea which all Veterans have embraced. This is going to be the first match between those who make history and those who report it.
We will do everything we can to give joy to the fans attending the match and help the Hatzikyriakio Institution. Grigoris Georgatos will perform for the first time in this match and I believe that everyone involved will have a great time not just playing the game, but also making an offer to our fellow men”.
Following that, Mr Nota Mpoumpoulou, Hatzikyriakio Childcare Institution Press officer, expressed her thanks to Olympiacos FC, Olympiacos Veteran Players and the reporters.
“In these days, it is very important to offer joy to the people around us, via Hatzikyriakio or else. The Hatzikyriakio Institution is an entity established in 1930 and takes care of young girls in need. It means a lot to us to have a good friend like Olympiacos. They provide us with their grounds free of charge for our medal-winning and acknowledged young athletes to practice. Mr Glykas, from his side, is not a new friend since he has been on our side for many years, helping us in any way possible”, she underlined.
Then, Olympiacos press Officer gave the floor to Pantelis Diamantopoulos, representing Olympiacos-covering reporters who will feature this Sunday. He stressed: “Spontaneous things are the simplest ones. It was just a phone call and I never expected that it could have become so big. I believed that the match could take place at Rentis Training Ground; however, no matter what happens, we will have achieved something to say stories about in the future: we will have performed at G. Karaiskakis stadium. We, the reporters have never played a single match together and we are called to play against a side with 603 matches under their belt, but we will see what to do”.
Ending, Mr Karapapas announced the Press the remaining Olympiacos charities that will take place in the following period.
