Today is a day of celebration for PAOK. The Greek Cup triumph is a first reward for the consistent work of many people for a long time. We are confident that this title will initiate an era of many more distinctions to come.

It’s a reward for the patience and support of our fans who have been standing by our side all these years.

It’s a reward for the best team throughout this season’s competition, in the semi-finals and the final, regardless of the effort that some make to cast doubt on this fact and to create the conviction that PAOK have been “favoured” by refereeing. Just a look at recent and not so recent facts renders this “accusation” a joke.

Several issues that need to be discussed emerged on the day of the Greek Cup final, but first and foremost we must state the following: our stance for clean and honest football in Greece is unwavering. We cannot eradicate refereeing mistakes from football, but we must make sure that such mistakes be human and not one-sided.

The value of this Cup is even greater for us, because we prevailed over two historic, big clubs on our way to the triumph. AEK’s value renders our feat even bigger.

Regarding what happened in the stands before the two teams arrived at the stadium, we are expecting a fair investigation. We are also expecting that the findings of said investigation will be used by football authorities calmly and rationally, so that we won’t experience again such deplorable images in the future. Incidents that affect big football events and diminish our joy.

In any case, you can all rest assured that PAOK will no longer give up their right to be treated fairly and equally.