The airport scenario did not repeat: storming and mass protests at PAOK's stronghold
Chaos has engulfed Greek club PAOK. Supporters stormed the "Toumba" stadium, the club's stronghold, demanding a meeting with owner and businessman Ivan Savvidis after the management sanctioned the sale of first-team star Giannis Konstantelias to Germany's Borussia Dortmund.
Konstantelias, 23, ranks among the most prominent graduates of the Greek club's academy. Since his promotion to the first team in 2021, he has scored 44 goals and provided 26 assists in 190 matches. The young playmaker also led his side to a double of the Greek Super League and Greek Cup titles, and drove them to the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa Conference League two years ago.
That standing among the fans counted for little. PAOK struck an agreement with Borussia Dortmund worth around 22 million pounds sterling, with the Greece international signing a five-year contract on an annual salary of 2.6 million pounds sterling. The deal includes additional incentives reaching 5 million sterling, and PAOK will retain 17.5% of the player's future resale value. Should those incentives kick in, Konstantelias becomes the most expensive sale in the club's history.
The transfer lit the fuse. Around 400 fans gathered on Sunday in front of the "Toumba" stadium, and a group of them stormed the club's administrative offices inside the ground to demand direct explanations from Savvidis, 67. It was a final attempt to talk him out of selling the player to Dortmund, a club with close ties to Aris, PAOK's traditional rival, according to the British newspaper "The Sun".
All of this follows the departure of Romanian manager Razvan Lucescu this summer, the most successful coach in the club's history. He guided PAOK to two league titles and two cup titles across seven years spread over two separate spells.
The scenes evoke a notorious moment involving the club's owner eight years ago. Savvidis stormed the "Toumba" pitch with a pistol tucked into his belt during a top-of-the-table clash against AEK Athens, furious at a goal ruled out for offside. The crisis ended with a three-year ban from stadiums, a fine of 87 thousand sterling, a three-point deduction from PAOK's tally and a further fine of 55 thousand sterling, costing the team the 2018 league title.
After landing at Dortmund airport, Konstantelias met one of the supporters, who set up a live video call to the fans massed at the "Toumba" stadium. The player told them himself that leaving had been his own decision.
Konstantelias had come close to leaving in each of the past two years. His name was linked with a move to Red Bull Salzburg in 2024, and last year he stood on the verge of joining Stuttgart for 15 million sterling, plus further millions in incentives. Savvidis pulled the plug at the last moment under fan pressure. Reports even claim he ordered the player back from the airport before he could board the plane to Germany. That episode led to a contract renewal until 2029 on a higher salary, along with a "gentleman's agreement" that the club's owner would not stand in the way of a departure if the player made his wishes clear.
