Panathinaikos FC is looking to leave behind the troublesome days of the past few years, as Pairoj Piempongsant has taken 50 per cent of the shares that were in the possession of former chairman, Giannis Alafouzos. More to the point, they have been given to the company PAN ASIA INVESTMENTS that belongs to Piempongsant, and in time Alafouzos will continue to be bought out from the club, which means that his powers will gradually diminish.
Furthermore, Piempongsant is expected to appoint his own people as the club’s board of directors – not least among them former Chelsea manager Avram Grant, who will serve as director of football.
There is also an open inivtation to anyone else who might want to invest in the club, and there have been talks that owner of the basketball club of Panathinaikos Dimitris Giannakopoulos could do so through the ‘Athens Alive’ project to expand the Olympic Stadium.
However, before acquiring the shares, the business man will first need the typical approval of the Professional Sports Committee, a procedure similar to the ones he went through in Belgium and England where he also owns businesses.
The statement from the Panathinaikos football club regarding the agreement reads as follows: “Following many months of negotiations, an agreement was signed on Saturday, 06 October between Mr Ioannis Alafouzos and the company PAN ASIA INVESTMENTS LTD, of Thai entrepreneur Pairoj Piempongsant. Mr Ioannis Alafouzos agreed to pass half of the shares he had in his possession at the Panathinaikos football club, finalising the first phase of his intentions to introduce new investors in the club. Mr Ioannis Alafouzos was and always will be consistent with the promise he made from the beginning, to deliver Panathinaikos free from all the debts in which the club had fallen when he took over. With a new dynamic and collective efforts, which will continue, Panathinaikos becomes stronger to face the challenges that are ahead [sic].”