By Matt Scott
October 9 – Olympiacos, the Greek champions whose owner is under criminal investigation for alleged match-fixing, have signed a title-sponsorship deal with an online-betting company.
Stoiximan becomes the principal sponsor for Olympiacos, with its logo appearing on the club’s shirts for the first time in the match against PAOK on Saturday October 3, which Olympiacos won 2-0.
Olympiakos are joint-second in Champions League Group F after beating Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium on September 29.
However their right to participate in the competition had been challenged through the Court of Arbitration for Sport by their Greek Super League rivals Panathinaikos and PAOK over the criminal match-fixing allegations in Athens.
The Court has still not released its reasoned decision to throw out the challenge, however media reports suggest UEFA successfully argued on the technicality that the two other Greek clubs were not legitimate litigants as they had no “interest” in the case.
UEFA’s deputy general secretary, Theodore Theodoridis, is the son of Olympiacos’s vice-president, Savvas Theodoridis. UEFA, whose president, Michel Platini has been banned by FIFA’s ethics committee over corruption allegations, has refused to comment.
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