The first step, among what are expected to be many more, was taken on Friday towards constructing a new pitch for the Panathinaikos football club, with the amateur Panathinaikos organization signing a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the relevant environment and energy ministry.
The proposal, which is still on the drawing boards, would involve an exchange of land tracts between the state and amateur Panathinaikos, which owns the current football field and hosts other indoor sports under its stands. The pitch, formally called the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium, was constructed prior to WWII and can host at most 17,000 spectators. By even the most lenient of views, it is judged as unsatisfactory as a venue for one of Greece's most popular football clubs.
The venue was abandoned for almost a decade a Panathinaikos FC used the spacious Athens Olympic Stadium as its home field.
Based on the MoC, Panathinaikos would be awarded a tract of land in the east Athens green space of Goudi, where several military camps one stood, in exchange for the current land where the field stands.
