Angry Olympiacos owner sends players on forced leave
Evangelos Marinakis an astute businessman and shipowner believes in investment on the condition that such investment must yield fruits.
Marinakis Who is a member of the Piraeus City Council is also the owner of two football clubs, Olympiacos in Greece and Nottingham Forest in England, but these are no happy times for the players of Olympiacos as their run in the ongoing season has fallen below par and has forced Marinakis to weld the big stick.
He has not only fined the team a total of £350,000 but has also sent most of the players packing, accusing the players of thinking more of the comfortable accommodations that has been provided for them and the jaw dropping cars they cruise around with than what is happening on the pitch.
Olympiakos drew 1-1 at Levadiakos on Sunday which leaves the Superleague Greece champions in third – nine points behind league leaders AEK Athens – with four games left to play.
In response to the disappointing result, Marinakis has fired back at his side’s ailing form by fining his squad £175,000 on top of the other £175,000 that followed their 1-1 draw against rivals Panathinaikos on March 4.
“I will build Olympiakos from the beginning and it will become the team we are dreaming of,” Marinakis told the Greek press. “I and the rest of the fans have tolerated you enough. You will leave today and go on holiday.
“The amateur teams live with the basics, they love Olympiakos and their supporters much more than you do.
“[You think more about] the nice houses you live in and your cars and don’t care about the team. I pay millions for you to have everything. With your actions I fired three coaches. But at the end it looks like you were at fault.”
Marinakis has vowed to call up players from the Olympiakos Under-20 squad to replace those who have been sent away.
Recall that Super Eagles forward Brown Ideye who currently plies his trade with Chinese Super league side Tiajin Teda,played for Olympiacos from 2015 to 2017 making 43 appearances and scoring 23 goals. Ideye is currently on loan with Spanish La liga side Malaga.