By Eurohoops Team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos OPAP announced that Fragiskos Alvertis and Dimitris Diamantidis alongside Takis Triantopoulos will take over the management of the Greek powerhouse until the club is sold. Manos Papadopoulos opted to depart after his run with the club spanning approximately three decades, Friday’s press release adds.
Alvertis, Diamantidis, and Triantopoulos with head coach Giorgos Vovoras will present the plan for the 2020-21 season in a press conference scheduled for next week.
Owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos is looking to step down announcing in early June that the Greens are up for sale for a price of 25 million euros.
Papadopoulos out
In an additional note, Papadopoulos, the right-hand man of the Giannakopoulos family, was recently approached by Zenit Saint-Petersburg. His resignation is directly linked to the two-year (1+1) deal offered by the Russian team as the longtime GM and club president is indeed heading to Zenit and reuniting with former Panathinaikos head coach Xavi Pascual. If his new team stays in Turkish Airlines EuroLeague, Papadopoulos is expected to run the option for a second season.
“Thirty years with our Panathinaikos, I learned to rely on, serve, and solely exist through our collective effort,” he noted in a separate press release, “I sacrificed my personal life, a normal day-to-day routine, several nights, Sunday’s, holidays, to be next to the team whenever I was needed. My losses don’t compare to my earnings. I enjoyed magical moments, beyond humanly possible, gained lasting relationships, won titles out of this world.”
Ex-captains back
Alvertis was reportedly departing but will remain with the team he served as a player between 1990 and 2009, as a head coach in 2014, and as the GM since 2016. His multi-decade stretch includes five EuroLeague championships as a player and numerous domestic titles.
As for Diamantidis, 40, also a former captain of the Greens, he is returning to Panathinaikos after his long time as a player from 2004 to 2016. Since retiring, he became the director of Eurohoops Academy working alongside fellow EuroLeague Legend Theo Papaloukas.