“After many years during which I saw many things, what I know most surely about morality and the duty of man I owe to football.” Albert Camus
Panathinaikos of Ioannina city (PAOI) is our self-organized football club, established in 2010 at Ioannina, a city in western Greece, in which we reside. We, a group of antifascists, are supporters of Panathinaikos Athens (PAO), the most historical and innovating athletic club in Greece. Consequently, we are also part of Gate 13, PAO’s fan firm. PAOI shares the same colours with PAO (green and white) and the same emblem ( a shamrock ).
PAOI is staffed, in the majority, with amateur players from our group, apparently without receiving any money. We decided to create our own local football team to maintain intact and spread out our profound values, such as solidarity, dignity and fair-play, in addition with the authentic ultras’ spirit. The decay of social structures that capitalism causes has affected sports as well. The fans here face, especially the last years, fixed games, frauds, corruption, police brutality, control and injustice in an intolerable way. Marketing, merchandising and betting substitute nowadays basics athletic qualities in order, businessmen, to make profit through sports teams. We, on the other hand, dispose our passion and desire for freedom to overcome all these obstacles. Our concern is also to participate or to take the initiative to organize social acts ( blood donations, distribution of first aid goods, local meetings etc.).
We consider that radical fans, wherever they live, in cooperation are capable of extinguishing every nationalistic core in the terraces and in the society as well. Every Sunday is an opportunity for us to sing and feast along with PAOI’s victories or failures, as long as the spark is not burnt out.
Greetings and solidarity to all thinking fans worldwide. VIVA PAOI!
