Local Football —
The Ordeals of a Sport's Writer:      

First of all, this column was told by an official that a game between Romanos and Metaxohori was to be played at 15.00 at Elia on a recent Sunday. When we showed up at the appointed time, we were told the match was played the day before to a 1-1 tie score: The actual score was Football 0 – This Column 0!

Then came the match between Thiagoras and Posidonas at Anopoli. After a short delay, the teams were finally lined up on the pitch, ready for the whistle from Mr. Stefanidis, the referee. With pen poised and camera cocked, we waited for an expected thrilling match to start . . . and waited . . . . and  waited. The referee had noticed that there was no doctor available.

The referee asked a Thiagoras official to check into the problem. After 15 minutes and numerous telephone calls, the referee was finally told that a doctor was on the way. After another 30 minutes slowly ticked by, the frustrated referee started to wave the players off the pitch. That's when a pretty, short-skirted girl rushed on the pitch claiming she was a pharmacist with complete first aid training, and that she would fill in for the doctor. No good, said the referee, much to the dismay of the players, some of which were said to be anticipating injuries which would be treated by the young pharmacist.  The outcome of the match, at the time of this writing, is to be decided by EPSI.

(Editor's Note: This column, in its endeavor to expand coverage of local football throughout the townships of Gouves, N. Alikarnassos, Hersonissos and Malia, is looking for a part-time sports reporter. Please contact Tony Bowes (tony@ko-go.gr) in English or Maria Aretaki (maria@ko-go.gr) in Greek.

Boxing:

Russia's giant heavyweight, Nikolay Valuev, is set to fight David Haye of England in a November 7 bout in Nuremberg. Haye has lost only once in 23 fights, but is eight stone lighter and nine inches shorter than the huge Russian. The Englishman is hoping to become Britain's first heavyweight champion since Lennox Lewis retired in 2003, but he may have to take a lesson from his namesake in the "David and Goliath" fable to do so.

Manny Pacquiao's W.B.O. welterweight title fight against three-time world champion, Manuel Cotto, in Las Vegas on November 17 is a sell out, but not before  prices for normal seats had skyrocketed, some going for 22 times their face value.

Volleyball:

Champions League: The champions Olympiakos and Panathinaikos  face a difficult task when they start the group stage on December 2 and 3. Olympiakos will play Dynamo Moscow (Russia), Ceske Budejovice (Czech Republic) and Trentino (Italy). Panathinaikos are in the same group as Piacenze (Italy), Friedrichshafen (Germany) and Jastrzebski (Poland).

Wrestling:

Yiannis Arzoumanidis made history for Greece, winning the bronze medal in the120 kilo-kilogram freestyle wrestling category. It is only the fourth medal Greece has ever won in a freestyle wrestling World Championship. He also finished fifth in this year's European Championship.

Football:

Where have all the policemen gone? Again violence blights the Greek football. This time it was an under-21 match between Aris and PAOK at Souroti. A group of fans wearing PAOK's colours with helmets, and brandishing knives, wooden sticks and iron bars attacked anyone in Aris colours. Officials said this was a well planned exercise with intent to injure and the police, all two of them, were powerless to control the gang. At least one Aris fan suffered serious injuries, and Nikos Passialis, the technical director of Aris' academies, was stabbed in the thigh.

 SUPPORT FOR ATHENS 2011

Culture and Tourism Minister Pavlos Geroulanos expressed support to the hosting of the Special Olympics World Summer Games "Athens 2011" in a recent meeting with Special Olympics International Chairman and CEO Timothy P. Shriver and Special Olympics Hellas President Joanna Despotopoulou.

Mr. Geroulanos stressed in the meeting, symbolically held under the shadow of the Acropolis, that Greece being the cradle of Civilization will send out to the world the message of respect for people with disabilities and participation in the joy found in sports.

The Special Olympics World Summer Games "Athens 2011" will be held on June 25-July 4, 2011 with the participation of 7,500 athletes and 2,500 coaches from 185 countries.

Sport to watch:

Tennis:

November 7 to 8: Federation Cup World Group Final, Italy v USA,  Circolo del Tennis, Reggio Calabria, Italy.

Golf:

November 7 to 8: The Crete Golf Club Cup, Hersonissos, Crete.

November 19 to 22: The Dubai World Championships.

World Cup European Zone Play-offs:

November 14 or 18: Greece v Ukraine; Republic of Ireland v France; Portugal v Bosnia Herzegovina; Russia v Slovenia.