Joint Announcement by 16 Federations: “We sincerely thank Mr. Avgenakis for his support”

16 federations of Olympic sports (basketball, volleyball, KOE, handball, wrestling, weightlifting, karate, triathlon, etc.) made a joint announcement on their websites. They thanked outgoing Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis for his offer.

The joint statement:

“With the completion of Mr. Lefteris Avgenakis’ tenure at the Deputy Ministry of Sports, we feel the need to express our heartfelt thanks to him for his support both in our sport and in all amateur sports.”

Outgoing Deputy Sports Minister Lefteris Avgenakis has done a commendable job of reform, championing amateur sport and providing solutions to chronic problems exacerbated during the economic crisis.

We must acknowledge that it was the Deputy Minister of Sports who, with strong government support, created the permanent funding mechanism for amateur sport from gambling tax revenues, responding to a constant request from sports federations and federations.

Particularly under the difficult conditions created during the Covid-19 pandemic, the funding mechanism kept the federations afloat, provided valuable legal income and offered a substantial solution to amateur sport, which faced a serious question of survival. The funding mechanism is a great legacy for amateur sport.

Mr. Lefteris Avgenakis was also a proponent, a key supporter and a pioneer in bringing major international sporting events back to our country.

With a vision, but also a project to modernize the infrastructure, he has finally put Greece on the world map of sport. He has made the greatest contribution to the creation of new sports facilities that our athletes and of course our youth so much need.

It is our duty to history and to the thousands of athletes to pay tribute to a politician who was not only the longest-serving Deputy Minister of Sport, but who, with planning, perseverance and hard work, opened up new perspectives and horizons for the future of Greek sport.” .