A large crowd attended the presentation of the book “Muniversity Confidential” by Nikos Bozionelou at the Cultural Centre of the municipality of Athens.
The journalist and author was honored with the presence of the Secretary General of Sports George Mavrotas, the MPs Pavlos Christidis, Nikos Pappas and Harris Katsivardas, the President of Posey Sotiris Triantafyllou, the first vice-president of the PSAT Manos Staramopoulos, the general secretary of the PSAT Yannis Theodorakopoulos, the executive secretary of the PSAPP Thanos Sarris and the deputy president of the Super League Katia Koxenoglou.
The discussion was moderated by journalist Christina Vidou and the panel also included journalists Alexis Spyropoulos, Joseph Kalamarakis and Thanasis Kolitsidakis, a member of the national team in the first World Cup that took part in 1994. Kolitsidakis recalled the awe with which the internationals of Alketa Panagoulias watched Diego Maradona in the Argentina – Greece match, that after the end of the match they all ran for his jersey (but he didn’t give it to anyone!) and the suspicion, a few hours later when it became known that a player “wearing the jersey with the number 10” had tested positive in an anti-doping test: “We all thought then of Tasos Mitropoulos, who wore the 10 and was 40 years old! Who could have imagined that it was Maradona after all…” he recounted.
Why did you decide to publish a book, Nikos Bozionelos was asked: “You won’t like the answer: it’s a matter of… age! I realized that we now have to do things in our lives that stay. And what could be better than a book, especially when you have collected so much research material over the years?” she replied.
The Odyssey of… of the deck, Mussolini’s World Cup, bribery with a Greek colour, the Austrian who punished Hitler, the wimpy golfer who felt remorse, the lost voyage of India, the 14-year-old hated by the Spaniards, Argentina’s absurd isolationism, Sweden’s moral wall, the Soviet “Pelé”, the Salazar showcase, the communist who built the most beautiful team of all time, the disgust of Jair, an entire World Cup drenched in blood and the Yugoslavian civil war on Italian pitches are some of the 71 chapters.
The event was also attended by journalists Magda Tsegou, Georgia Siricha, Sonia Haimanta, Yannis Mamouzelos, Panagiotis Surelis, Nikos Giannopoulos, Zeta Theodorakopoulou, among others, Kostas Manolioudakis, Tasos Kapetanakos, Argyris Pagartanis, Antonis Diniakos, Yannis Psarakis, Tasos Nikolopoulos and Vangelis Nerantzias and several other journalists, friends and readers of the author.
“World Cup Confidential” is published by Historical Quest, click for more information here.
