Olympiakos President banishes First Team players

On a night when Bayern Munich came from behind and won 2-1 against Sevilla, the buzz around the UCL couldn’t have been better. However, we had to look elsewhere and find out about the most interesting stories in football that happened in the past few days. Evangelos Marinakis had sacked three managers before Olympiakos slipped to third following a 1-1 draw with mid-table Levadiakos in the Greek League. This was because he believed the managers were at fault for the team’s poor performances this season but that did not last forever. He realized that his players were the ones who were not doing enough. In case you were wondering what happens to football players when they do not perform to their expectations, the President of Olympiakos has two ways of dealing with the problem. First, you banish them from playing for the first team. Marinakis banished his first-team players for the remaining 4 games and replaced them with youth players who love Olympiakos and the supporters much more than they do.

He is quoted to have said that, “[You care more about] your nice houses, your cars. You don’t care about the team. I and the rest of the fans have tolerated you for long enough. You will leave today and go on holiday.”

This is one of the most humiliating things that a player can go through during his playing career. The players have been forced to step aside and watch the young boys take charge. Next up, the president also fined the players. It is believed that he fined them $492 000 as a punishment. Olympiakos won the league 19 times in the last 21 years. They are used to dominating in football which explains their president’s harsh reaction. Do you think this is a fair punishment for the players?