10-03-2010: “City of Athens honours basketball veterans”

Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis and
City of Athens Youth
and Sport Organisation (ONA) chairman Vassilis Kikilias awarded veteran
basketball players at an event held this morning at the Athina Municipal Radio
9.84 Amphitheatre at Technopolis in Gazi.




Basketball veterans Anestis
Petalidis, Fedonas Mattheou, Dimitris Stefanidis, Konstantinos Mourouzis,
Alekos Spanoudakis and Yiannis Spanoudakis were honoured for their contribution
to sport and for being faithful to the athletic ideal. Many Greek basketball figures
attended the event.




Athens Mayor Nikitas Kaklamanis
said:


"This is one of the happiest days
for the city of Athens
as the living history of Greek basketball; the present; and the future of the
sport are gathered here today.




I would like to say a special thanks
to my friend Vassilis Goumas since today's event was his idea. And of course I
would like to express my gratitude to Vassilis Kikilias and the Youth and Sport
Organisation who organized the event.




As Mayor of Athens, but above all as
a citizen of this city and as a fan, I would like to say a very big thank you - and I think I speak on
behalf of everyone - to the athletes we are honouring today. By honouring these
athletes we are actually honouring the generation of athletes who were renowned
for saying "no" to things, things that today sometimes make us sad, and not
athletes that said "yes".




As you know athletes are also public
figures. They are renowned for their refusals rather than their acceptances.
‘Yes' is very easy to say, while saying ‘no' is difficult. And they proved this,
according to their acknowledgment by society, their families, their professions
and even politics".




Athens Mayor announced his decision
to establish the event as an annual celebration in the City of Athens. "Today we honour the senior athletes,
next year we will honour the young", he said.




City of Athens Youth and Sport Organisation (ONA)
chairman Vassilis Kikilias,
said:


"Today we honour those who set the foundation
for Greek basketball's international recognition. We owe much to these
individuals who, despite the difficulties and adversities, played their
favourite sport in dirt and stones. Their great effort resulted to the
identification and recognition of Greek basketball on a global level.




We must not forget history, so we can have a future, and above all the
people who made history. They are all role models for the young and by looking
them straight in the eye and thanking them today is the least we can do".