The European Champions are hosted by the President of Greece
Last year in Istanbul, only one day after the great triumph of winning the Euroleague, the European Champions visited the Patriarchy as guests of honor of the Ecumenical Patriarch Mr. Vartholomeos. This year, after the London triumph, the European Champions went to the Presidential Mansion as guests of honor of the President of the Greece Mr. Carolos Papoulias.
The Olympiacos delegation, led by the Presidents of the Club Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos, went to the Presidential Mansion in acceptance of the President’s honorary invitation.
His Excellence, Mr. Papoulias got acquainted with the protagonists of the London triumph and congratulated them by awarding them the medal of the Presidency of the Democracy.
The Presidents of Olympiacos offered the President a team uniform with the Number 1 and his name printed on it, captain Vassilis Spanoulis offered a ball signed by all of the Champions and Giorgos Printezis offered two season tickets.
CAROLOS PAPOULIAS: Congratulations. You offered us great joy and you should know that joy is very scarce at times like these. This has been a great joy for Greeks everywhere. We wish to thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. But you have also sent a message and I’m going to refer to it because I think it’s really important. The message is that the Greek youth, the youth of Greece in crisis stands tall, plays against great sports teams with much larger financial means than the ones possessed by Olympiacos and not only stands at the same level but also comes out a winner. It’s a great message, for me this is actually what’s the most important. That Greece stands on its feet, that Greece keeps fighting, that Greece has the vigor to face any adversity might fall upon. You have our warmest congratulations. All good may come upon you.
GIORGOS ANGELOPOULOS: Your Excellency, Mr. President, we wish to sincerely thank you for the honor bestowed upon us. It’s the highest honor, for you to accept us here as the European Champions. We believe we have given a message of hope and optimism to the whole world, that Greece can pull through, that Greeks will pull through. Thank you very much.
PANAGIOTIS ANGELOPOULOS: I would also to thank you for today’s invitation. What gives us joy, what we feel is that we have made millions of Greeks proud despite their club affiliations. That’s what I feel. Thank you very much.
GIANNIS IOANNIDIS (Minister of Culture and Sports): Optimism, the message to a country that is greatly suffering right now, what this team has managed to prove is that when there is a team and everyone sticks together we can achieve things that countries much larger than ours are not able to achieve. The score of the final will make history. To play a final and score 100 points, it’s very difficult for this to ever happen again. All can happen in life, but something like this is very difficult to happen again. A Greek coach has made it, he’s the first to have done so, I went to six final fours, to three finals and did not get it, Giannakis went and did not get it. We are very happy now that a Greek is opening the market for young guys, Greek coaches are really capable and can find many jobs both inside and out of Greece. I wish you all remain healthy, continue with the same principals and everything will be just fine. Thank you for everything.
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