July 2 – Greece’s 2014 World Cup team have written to their Prime Minister asking for their tournament bonus money to go towards securing their national team a training facility.
The players stated in the letter, “We do not want extra bonus, or money. We only play for Greece and its people. All we want is for you to support our effort to find a land and create a sports center that will house our National team.”
Greece’s government’s general secretary for sports, Yiannis Andrianos, responded by saying: “The team is to be congratulated for the character it showed at the tournament, but also for their letter seeking the use of their bonus money to construct a training site. The prime minister has responded positively to this request, and the government guarantees that every effort is made to provide a new facility.”
€1 million worth of bonuses was previously declared as the amount that would be provided to the team for reaching the last 16, which is the first time in the nation’s history that it has reached a world cup knockout stage. Though details about whether the entire amount, or a portion, will be donated is as of yet unknown.
A new facility is required as their current home by the seaside in Athens is scheduled to close in the coming year due to redevelopment. With financial hardship causing a reduction in public spending, the aid offered would come in handy.
This is not the only generous act that has landed Greek football in the news this World Cup. Celtic and Greece striker Georgios Samaras made friends with an 11-year-old Celtic fan with Down’s Syndrome after lifting the Scottish Premiership trophy in May. Samaras went into the stands and carried the boy around the pitch to join in the celebrations.
Subsequently, a Facebook group was created by some Greek fans, named ‘O JAY PAEU Mundial’, that sought to gather support for its request to the Hellenic Football Federation to “send little Jay to the World Cup to see his idol Samaras scoring once again”.
Unfortunately the wish couldn’t be realised. As Jay’s family were at an airport, about to embark on a planned family holiday, they were offered the chance to watch Greece take on Costa Rica in Brazil. They were unable to alter their plans.
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