May
5
Greek club Olympiacos and their fans celebrated today winning their 11th Greek championship in the last 12 years with what has now become an annual fiesta at Karaiskaki stadium. For entertainment, a friendly game was played against Fitese but hardly anyone really cares about the final result which found the two teams tied with 1 goal each.
So far, Olympiacos had their best season performing well in Champions League and of course earning themselves another Greek championship title. They also have a chance of taking home the Hellas Online Cup with the final coming up soon against Northern Greek club Aris. This was not, however, a year with no controversies for the Piraeus club.
First, they had to let go of team coach Takis Lemonis after it looked like he had a hard time managing the team going in to the final stretch of the season; losing uncontested to English club Chelsea in Champions League play forced owner Kokalis to let Lemonis go. Moreover, Olympiacos finished the year two points ahead of second place AEK. The turning point which in the end also decided the winner was a decision by a panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled out an appeal by another club, last-placed Apollon Kalamarias, which, had it been successful, would have cost Olympiacos three points and handed the title to AEK. It was ruled that Kalamaria used an ineligible player overturning the team’s initial win over Olympiacos by a 1-0 score.
The situation turned worse when Brazilian soccer star Rivaldo who spent 3 years playing for Olympiacos before moving to AEK last season claimed AEK as the true champions and threatened to leave the country because of what he considered to be an injustice. In the end, Oympiacos owner Kokalis served Rivaldo with a lawsuit over his statement; Greek courts will have to decide this one as well. Rivaldo went from being a fan favorite to one rather hated; I am certain that many of Olympiacos’ fans were chanting (in their heads) “Rivaldo cabron, saluda al campeon,” during the big party at Karaiskaki yesterday.