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Posted by evdomada on August 29, 2008
Panathinaikos and Anorthosis have been drawn together in Group B of the UEFA Champions League. Their other opponents are Internazionale (aka Inter Milan) and Werder Bremen.
Panathinaikos seem well placed to take 2nd spot behind Inter unless more surprises are installed in this season’s competition.
Matchday 1 of the UEFA Champions League kicks off on September 16th.
Here is a list of all the groups and the teams:
Posted in Europe Sport, Greek Sport | Tagged: UEFA Champions League | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 29, 2008
The Cypriots have outdone the Greeks this year in their European presence with outstanding results. Anorthosis are through to the group stage of the European Champions League, while Omonoia and APOEL are through to the next stage of the UEFA Cup.
For Greece only Panathinaikos are through to the group stage of the European Champions League and only Olympiakos will be in the next stage of the UEFA Cup. AEK and Aris unfortunately stumbled in their qualifiers and will no longer partake in the European competitions for this season.
Anorthosis Famagusta managed to push Olympiakos out of the Champions League for 2008/2009. It will be the first time in 12 years that Olympiakos will be absent from the tournament.
Anorthosis outplayed Olympiacks in the first leg in Cyprus managing a 3-0 victory against the Greek champions. For Olympiakos to have overcome this hurdle, they needed at least a 3-0 victory in Karaiskakis Stadium to force extra-time and then penalties; or a 4-0 win for outright victory. They managed to take 35 shots at the Anorthosis’ goal but only one was scored. The final 1-0 result for the Greeks was not enough.
Omonoia from Cyprus also managed to end AEK’s European adventures for 2008/2009. The Cypriots surprised the Greeks with a 0-1 victory in Athens and this morning were able to hold out for a 2-2 draw in Nicosia.
And the third Cypriot team to proceed to the next round of their European dream are APOEL who managed a 3-3 result away in extra-time and go through on the away goals ruling.
Aris unfortunately lost to Slaven this morning 2-0 and their 1-0 win in the first leg was not enough to get them through to the next round.
Here are the results of the Greek and Cypriot teams:
Champions League: Panathinaikos - Sparta Prague 1-0 (3-1 aggregate)
Champions League: Olympiakos – Anorthosis 1-0 (1-3 aggregate)
UEFA: Red Star - APOEL 3-3 (3-3 aggregate APOEL through on away goals)
UEFA: Omonoia - AEK 2-2 (3-2 aggregate)
UEFA: Slaven - Aris 2-0 (2-1 aggregate)
prof@skylproductions.com
Posted in Europe Sport, Greek Sport | Tagged: AEK, Anorthosis, Aris, Olympiakos, Omonoia, PAO | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 18, 2008
Greece’s involvement in the 2008 Beijing Olympics has not been its best.
The weightlifting team was disqualified weeks before the games, another athlete sprinter Tasos Gousis was caught the week before we started … Katerina Thanou was not allowed to participate even though she has served her “sentence”.
And the latest, on the day we finally win a few medals, one of our main medal hopes Fani Halkia who won gold in Athens in the 400m hurdles, gets caught with a doping test.
Fani was tested in Japan where the Greek team was warming up prior to arriving in Beijing.
What’s strange about this story is that Fani Halkia is a volunteer in the WADA’s anti-doping testing scheme.
This is an excerpt from the Canberra Times online edition (source) ..
“‘I am shocked,” she said yesterday morning. ”I have undergone more testing than anyone else.”
Halkia, 29, was tested a few days before the Beijing Olympics in Japan, where Greece’s track and field team had been training.
She said she had volunteered to take part in the agency’s pilot program in which athletes submitted themselves voluntarily to regular testing.
Halkia, who has moved out of the Olympic village, said she was sorry she could not take part in the Games and that she had expected to make the 400m hurdles final.
The 400m hurdles first-round heats were being run last night.
Halkia said she did not know how the banned substance was found in her sample.
Fifteen Greek athletes, including Halkia, have tested positive for methyltrienolone. They include 11 weight-lifters, swimmer Yannis Drymonakos and sprinter Tassos Gousis, who was sent home a few days before the Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee has also barred sprinter Katerina Thanou, from Beijing, for her role in a drug-testing scandal at the Athens Games.”
Why then has she been found with an illegal substance?? Someone that has volunteered for such a scheme, we would think is one of the “clean” athletes.
I must admit that I am confused with this one.
And I am not one of these Greeks that believes that there is a conspiracy against Greek athletes. Other nations are being caught too, and if our athletes are found guilty then they deserve to serve the punishment.
Its just that we have had so many athletes caught this time around, together with the Kenteris-Thanou fiasco at Athens, that we have surely tainted at these Olympics.
evdomada@evdomada.gmail
Posted in Greek Sport, Sport | Tagged: Beijing Olympics, Greek Athletes | 2 Comments »
Posted by evdomada on August 17, 2008
Melbourne, 13.08.2008
The Social Security Agreement between Australia and Greece (signed on May 23, 2007) will come into force on October 1, 2008, Australia’s Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Jenny Macklin reiterated.
A total of 50,000 people will benefit from the agreement (37,000 Australians of Greek origin and 13,000 former residents of Australia who now live in Greece).
Australia and Greece will contribute fairly to the support of people who have spent part of their adult lives working in Greece or living in Australia. The Agreement covers Australian and Greek Age Pensions and people will be able to move between Australia and Greece knowing that their pension rights are recognised in both countries.
Once the Agreement starts, former residents of Australia living in Greece may be able to claim an Australian Age Pension and use periods of insurance in Greece to be counted towards meeting the minimum residence requirements. Similarly, Australian residents with periods of insurance in Greece may be able to qualify and claim for a Greek old age pension by taking into account periods of Australian residence.
The Agreement also includes provisions covering Australia’s Superannuation Guarantee scheme, similar to those included in Australia’s agreements with Belgium, Chile, Croatia, Ireland, Japan, Korea, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Switzerland and the USA. These provisions will eliminate the need for compulsory contributions having to be made into both countries’ systems for seconded workers. The Australian Tax Office will administer these provisions and any enquiries about this should be directed to the ATO on 13 1020.
For more information, those interested can visit the ministry’s website to get answers to most frequently asked questions or visit Centrelink welfare agency offices across Australia.
Some of the key points of the agreement that covers only Age Pensions are:
(Source: ANA MPA)
Posted in Greek-Australian News | Tagged: Greek-Australian Pension | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 17, 2008
17 Αυγ 2008 – By Dimitris Alexopoulos – Translated by John Crystallidis
Four Greek athletes have won the first two medals for Greece in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games today. Vasilis Polymeros and Dimitris Mougios won the Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls Rowing silver medal at the Beijing 2008 Olympics on August 17. Earlier, Sofia Bekatorou, Sofia Papadopoulou and Virginia Kravarioti had won the bronze medal in Sailing Yngling. Chrysi Biskitzi and Alexandra Tsiavou came sixth in the Lightweight Women’s Double Sculls, 7:04.61.
Posted in Greek Sport | Tagged: Beijing Olympics | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 17, 2008
Melbourne, 13.08.2008
The SAE Youth Network of Victoria and Tasmania held its founding convention in the building of the Greek Orthodox Community of Melbourne and Victoria in the presence of roughly 100 young expatriates, aged between 18 and 25.
SAE Youth Networks have already been established in Western Australia (Perth), New Zealand (Wellington), and South Australia (Adelaide) while the youth networks in New South Wales and Queensland are expected to be founded soon.
The proceedings will be completed with a meeting of the youth network boards in Sydney on October 4 and 5 held to elect the board members of the SAE Oceania Youth Network.
Posted in Greek Scene, Greek-Australian News | Tagged: Hellenes Abroad, SAE | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 16, 2008
Friday 15th August
Dispute with Athens should not bar FYROM from NATO, Rice says as Nimetz prepares for more talks
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday reiterated Washington’s conviction that the Macedonia name issue should not obstruct Skopje’s bid to join NATO, as a United Nations mediator entrusted with resolving the name spat heralded a new round of talks.
“The hope is that the name issue can be resolved very quickly now,” Rice commented in Washington, without elaborating. She added that the dispute between Athens and Skopje over FYROM’s constitutional name “should not get in the way of the admission of Macedonia to NATO.”
Greek diplomats yesterday interpreted Rice’s sudden push on the name issue as a last-ditch attempt by Washington to bring FYROM into the NATO fold before US President George W. Bush bows out of office in the fall. Also, following its support for Georgia in the recent conflict with Russian forces, Washington may want to send out a message to other countries in the region that it is willing to support them if they come under its wing, the same diplomats said.
The fresh pressure from Washington comes as UN mediator for the Macedonia name dispute Matthew Nimetz calls a new round of talks. Nimetz, who met with representatives from Skopje and Athens last week, is next week due to visit both capitals to push for a breakthrough. Sources say that new name proposals are likely to be laid on the table. A series of alternative names for FYROM proposed by Nimetz over the past few months – including compound titles featuring words such as Upper and New – have been rejected outright by Skopje, though Athens has insisted that any new name should include a geographical qualifier.
Meanwhile in a related development, media in FYROM report that residents planning to spend their holidays in Greece are being mistreated by the country’s border authorities who are subjecting them to excessively long inspections and delays.
Source: ekathimerini.com
Posted in Greek News | Tagged: Greece FYROM | Leave a Comment »
Posted by evdomada on August 16, 2008
16 Αυγ 2008 – By Alexandros Moz
UN envoy Matthew Nimetz will visit Skopje next week to discuss the FYROM (Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia) name-issue. At the same time, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insists that the resolution of the issue should not serve as a precondition for FYROM to join NATO.
Meanwhile, FYROM has proved provocative for one more time. After Gruevski’s letters in relation to a Macedonian minority existing in Greece, the President of the FYROM Parliament sent similar letters to the Presidents of EU Parliaments and Presidents of Parliamentary Assemblies of international organizations, as well as to other powerful countries.
At the same time, Athens has called on FYROM to hold serious negotiations, while President Branko Tservenkofski criticized PM Nicola Gruevski for raising the issue of the so-called “Macedonian Orthodox Church”.
On a relative development, Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis criticized the FYROM PM on NET 105.8. She said that Mr Gruevski is avoiding discussing the name issue, adding that Mr Gruevski’s national hysteria is not a solution. “The issues raised by him are not included in Mr Nimetz’s agenda,” she said.
Ms Bakoyannis ruled out the possibility for Skopje to join international organizations without first resolving the name-issue, adding that all Greek political parties share identical views on national issues.
Sources: ΝΕΤ-105.8, ΑNA-ΜPA, news.ert.gr
Posted in Greek News | Tagged: Greece FYROM | Leave a Comment »
