Blackhawk

Eirini Vasiliou (400 m) received a spot in the Olympics after several athletes in the rankings withdrew. This pushed her to position 48 in the rankings, which is the last qualifying position. This makes it 19 Greek track & field athletes travelling to Tokyo.

Anna Korakaki and Lefteris Petrounias will be the Greek flag bearers at the opening ceremonies. For the first time in history there will be one female and one male flag bearer for each country after a decision by the International Olympic Committee.

So it appears we are offering 3 year deal worth around 3.3 mil for the 3 years. This means it's more than the 900K rumor we heard a day earlier. With that money spent by the team it's apparent that he will be our no. 1 striker. Looks like we did not even try to go after Krmencik. The asking price just for purchase was way too much even though the Czechs (Slavia) managed Brugge to drop the asking price to 2.5 mil. With that money plus little extra we got a player on a free transfer. Oliveira is not a bad player. His numbers at AEK are fairly good (better than Swiderski's/Krmencik's) and let's not forget that AEK had a terrible team the last two seasons. let's hope he does better at PAOK.

Augusto it is. "Hopefully" he does he does have COVID and it's not another attempt by him to get released.

Tsiamis lost on the last day of qualifying as he was knocked out of 32nd position by some Uzbek triple jumper who jumped 17.02m yesterday and passed him in the rankings. The basketball team is still in position to qualify. all they need to do is defeat China tomorrow and then defeat the winning tem from the other group (Turkey/Czech Republic) and then win the final game. They played fairly well against Canada and could have won the game.

Apparently two other pre-season games while in Holland will be announced soon: Heracles Almelo and Charleroi FC.

According to the reports the player with covid did not travel to Thessaloniki and is in quarantine in his country. With that in mind and looking at the pictures of training I don't see the following players: Varela, Soares, Augusto, Schwab, Murg, Ninua. Take your pick

He was making 1.2 mil at AEK.

NAME: Lucas Maia Reis TAYLOR POSITION: Right Back JERSEY NUMBER: 13 BIRTHDAY: 10-April-1995 BIRTH PLACE: Guarulos, Brazil HEIGHT: 1.76 m PAOK DEBUT: NT DEBUT: PREVIOUS TEAMS: SC Dnipro, Estoril Praia, FC Lviv, Boa Esporte Clube, Botafogo FC, Paysandu SC, Red Bull Brasil, Parana Clube, Criciuma EC, Sociadade Esportiva Palmeiras CONTRACT ENDS: 30-Jun-2024 (+1 year option renewal) SALARY: € 450,000

Oliveria deal is apparently very close. 2+1 year contract at 900K per season. He demanded 1.1 mil. If we really sign Oliveira that it's a sign that we never planned on making an offer for Krmencik. In the meantime rumors surfaced today that Slavia and Brugge agreed on Krmencik sale worth 2.5 mil. Not sure where those rumors originated, but I only read them on Greek sites. In today's interview on Czech sites Slavia's coach said that he would like Krmencik and that there are talks with Brugge, but that Slavia's options are limited. He added that they are keeping the Krmencik option open in case one of their current striker leaves, which is a possibility.

After winning the Greek Cup the PAOK Women's handball team also won the Greek Championship by beating Veroia in the two game playoff final. Second straight double for the PAOK girls. Nice job.

The number of rumors/fake news is astonishing these days. I would not believe 95% of them. In any case Taylor will probably be announced on July 1 considering he is already in Thessaloniki and brought his gaming console with him. I expect at least 2 more signings before the teams leaves for Holland. In other real news as per pash's post PAOK officially announced the contract extension of El Kaddouri for 2+1 seasons at approximately 650K per season. He will be automatically renewed for 3rd year if he play 50% of the games in the second year of the contract.

And the title fiesta followed the game. ?

I predict that official transfer announcements will not happen prior to July 1, 2021. I also think Lucas Taylor acquisition will be announced on that day.

To recap our confirmed friendlies so far: 09-July, 19:30 EEST: PAOK - NFC Volos (Toumba Stadium) 14-July, 21:00 EEST: PSV Eindhoven - PAOK (Philips Stadium) 25-July, 15:30 EEST: Feyenoord Rotterdam - PAOK (De Kuip Stadium) Still no info on who will televise the games. TV rights for the games in Holland are controlled by the company that arranges our pre-season training and games.

Talked with Yianko via Facebook yesterday. He is fine.

Petrounias secured a spot in the Olympics after winning the World Cup in Rings with 13.500 points today. In Beach Volleyball Arvaniti and Karagouni were eliminated in the semifinals of Olympic qualifying tournament by Russia and will not compete in Tokyo. Last chance for our track & field athletes to reach qualifying limits or climb up the rankings is this weekend during the Balkan Championships in Novi Sad, Serbia.

Hope our friend Yiankos is sound and safe in Miami. https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/miami-florida-building-collapse-06-24-21/index.html

I think June 30 and December 31 are the standard contract ending dates and I assume it applies in this case as well. One think I am not certain though is if the sweet UEFA money goes to the club that is lending the player to us.

You think PAOK made the deal with Brugge a while back? Brugge gets Tzolis in return for Krmencik and a specified amount of cash? That might be one explanation for the performance drop by Tzolis in the second part of last season.

Apparently Brugge turned down and offer from Sparta Prague to purchase Krmencik. There is still hope he might come to PAOK.

I don't know and don't really care if we get compensation for him, but on paper he is PAOK player until June 30, 2021.

Here is an updated list of Greek athletes that qualified for the Olympics. The latest addition is 43 year old archer Euaggelia Psarra. It will be Psarra's 6th appearance on Olympic Games. The following Greek athletes have secured a spot in the Tokyo Olympics so far: ARCHERY Euaggelia Psarra - individual CYCLING Polychronis Tzortzakis (road cycling) Christos Volikakis (track cycling) Dimitris Antoniadis (mountain bike) FENCING Dora Goundoura (sabre) JUDO Elizabeth teltsidou ( 70 kg - women) Alexis Danatsidis (81 kg - men) ROWING Maria Kyridou (Double Skif) Christina Bourbou (Double Skif) Stefanos Douskos (Skif) SAILING Vyronas Kokkalanis (RSX) Giannis Mitakis (Finn) Pavlos Kagialis (470) Panagiotis Mantis (470) Katerina Divari (RSX) Vasilia Karachaliou (Radial) Aimalia Tsoulfa (470) Ariadni Spanaki (470) SHOOTING Anna Korakaki (10 pistol, 25 m pistol) Nikos Mavromatis (Skeet) SWIMMING Alkis Kinigakis ( 10 KM Open Swim) Anna Doundounaki (100 m butterfly) Nora Drakou (4x100 m Individual Medley - mixed) Kristian Golomeev (50 m freestyle) Apostolos Christou (100 m freestyle, 100 m backtsroke) Andreas Vazaios (200 m individual medley) Apostolos Papastamos (200m/400m individual Medley) Kostas Egglezakis (800 m Freestyle) Dimitris Markos (800 m freestyle) Odysseas Meladinis (4x100 freestyle relay) Kostas Meretsolias (4x100 m Individual Medley) 4x100 m Freestyle Relay - men (Golomeev, Christou, Vazaios, Meladinis) 4x100 m Individual Medley - men (Golomeev, Christou, Vazaios, Meretsolias) 4x100 m Individual Medley - mixed (Christou, Meretsolias, Doudounaki, Drakou) SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING Evelina Papazoglou (duet, team) Euaggelia Platanioti (duet, team) Maria Alzikouzi-Kominea (teaam) Eleni Fragkaki (team) Krystalenia Gialama (team) Penelopi Karamesiou (team) Adriana Misikevic (team) Georgia Vasilopoulou (team) Danai Kariori (team) TABLE TENNIS Panagiotis Gionis (mens's singles) TAE KWON DO Fenia Tzeli (57 kg) TENNIS Maria Sakkari (women's singles, mixed doubles) Stefanos Tsitsipas (mens's singles, mixed doubles) TRACK & FIELD Miltos Tentoglou (long jump) Katerina Stefanidi (pole vault) Nikol Kyriakopoulou (pole vault) Eleni Polak (pole vault) Paraskevi Papachristou (triple jump) Antigoni Drisbioti (20 km Walk) Panagiota Tsinopoulou (20 km Walk) Kyriaki Filtisakou (20 km Walk) Alexandros Papamichail (50 km Walk) WATER POLO Greek national team - Men WRESTLING Maria Prevolaraki (53 kg) Giorikas Pilidis (65 kg) Possible additional qualifications: GYMNASTICS - Lefteris Petrounias needs to win the rings qualification competition with a score higher than 15.334 points. The final takes place this Saturday in Doha. BASKETBALL - men's basketball is taking part in Olympic qualifying tournament in Canada next week. With many injuries and Giannis Antentokoumpo not available the chances are slim for making it to Tokyo. BEACH VOLLEYBALL - Viky Arvaniti and Peny Karagouni are taking part in qualifying tournament this week WEIGHTLIFTING - Theodoros Iakovidis in the 96 kg division is close to being awarded a spot in the Olympics after Colombia was banned from weightlifting competition for doping violations TRACK & FIELD - athletes have until June 29 to reach qualifying limits or remain in the ranking tables in order to qualify. Athletes that are currently ranked and should qualify unless they drop from the rankings by June 29 are Michalis Anastasakis (hammer throw), Christos Frantzeskakis (hammer throw), Stamatia Skarveli (hammer throw), Kostas Filippidis (pole vault), Emmanouil Karalis (pole vault), Kostas Douvalidis (110 m hurdles), Rafaela Spanoudaki (200 m), Chrysoula Anagnostopoulou (discus throw) Athletes that need to achieve qualifying limits or move them to ranking tables are Kostas Baniotis (high jump), Tatiana Gousin (high jump), Elina Tzenko (javelin throw), Nikos Skarvelis (shot put), Dimitris Tsiamis (triple jump), Eirini vasiliou (400 m), Elisabeth Pesiridou (100 m hurdles) ORGANIZER INVITATIONS (WILD CARDS) - once countries submit their Olympic teams, the organizers can invite non-qualified athletes to take part in the games to fill available spots. Chances are very slim though Greece will get any invitations.

3:2 win by Sweden. Poland had some chances but Olsen made some good saves. Swiderski is out of competition. We are now left with Krmencik only in the competition.

We already did him a favor by re-signing El Kaddouri although it was not announced yet.