WINNERS

PANATHINAIKOS
The greens are back! After being plagued for several years by financial issues, poor management, several lawsuits that brought the club to the brink of extinction, now we’re finally seeing the first signs of a long-awaited rebirth. For a club of their stature, with the second highest amount of trophies in Greece (behind their eternal rivals Olympiacos) and so many European successes including the participation in the 1970/71 European Cup final against Ajax, it was only a matter of time until they bounced back. Manager Giorgos Donis was able to bring a much needed sense of calm to the team and worked with the club’s many young and talented players and their few key foreigners that are able to make a difference. The results of their work were shown during their recent performance against champions PAOK and will continue to be seen so long as they’re able to work in the same way.

ANGELOS BASINAS
Speaking of Panathinaikos, one of their former players has decided to take part in Tribal Sports Group’s Football For Fires friendly game in an effort to raise money for the support of those affected by the lethal bushfires. Through this action, Basinas could be considered to be one of the few people from Greece to help Australia in its hour of need. He was an integral part of the national team to go all the way to win the Euro 2004 in Portugal and write his name in football history and his presence is sure to ignite the interest of the Greek football community of Sydney.

MARIA SAKKARI
The 24-year-old capitalised on her excellent performances in the recent Australian Open during which she was able to advance all the way to the fourth round, as she is now on the 21st place in the world tennis women’s rankings. This could only prove to be a sign of things to come however as the Athenian seems confident in her ability and seems to believe that as long as she keeps trying, eventually she’ll have her breakthrough. Nick Kyrgios also had a breakthrough as he was ranked in 20th position in the men’s category, the highest he’s ever been in since he was 19 years old. Meanwhile, Stefanos Tsitsipas continues to be in sixth place.

NICK KYRGIOS
Tennis player Nick Kyrgios was able to raise over $90,000 towards the Bushfire Appeal thanks to his efforts in the Australian Open. The Greek Australian was one of the first people to show his compassion towards those affected by the bushfire crisis in Australia. Before the start of the first Grand Slam of the year, he offered to donate $200 for every ace he scored in the competition. After his first game in the tournament, former USA legend John McEnroe was so moved by Kyrgios’ efforts that he decided to join in by pledging a further $1,000 for each set that Kyrgios won.

SINNERS

CHRIS IKONOMIDIS
What started off as a bad season for the 24-year-old Greek Australian has now become a horrendous one. The unfortunate striker has suffered a tear in his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will remain out of action for the next 9-12 months. Ikonomidis now faces a surgery treatment followed by a long recovery period, meaning he will most likely be missing out not only on Perth Glory’s Asian Champions League and A-League finals campaigns, but also in Australia’s first ever Copa America participation. Hopefully he can come back in even better form.

A-LEAGUE
Just when you thought the Australian Football League was up to its neck in trouble, another issue has popped up. According to recent rumours, the A-League’s major sponsor, car developer Hyundai, is set to be backing out of the deal. Having been associated with the tournament for the past 15 years, Hyundai are not looking particularly interested in renewing a contract that is costing them $6 million per year and isn’t really offering them much in return. Although the A-League released an announcement in an effort to shut down rumours, conversations are ongoing regarding the future of this agreement.

OLYMPIACOS BASKETBALL
Another heavy loss has been noted for the three-time European champions, this time at the hands of Zalgiris Kaunas (94-69). The red-and-whites are having one of their worst seasons in recent memory and it all spirals back to the shareholders’ decision to remove the club from Greece’s top tier league in order to play in the second category. Since then the club has not been enjoying top level basketball and the players haven’t been in consistent form while it has also been very difficult to attract talent from abroad. Things are starting to look dim for the club from Piraeus who are even beginning to lose games in the domestic league and no one knows how far they could drop by the end of the season.