July 22nd, 2002

Many of the A1 Division basketball clubs will move to new homes in the coming season. These are:

AEK B.C. and Panathinaikos B.C. will have to leave the
Olympic Sports Hall, as it will be closed for the next two years due to works carried out for the 2004 Olympic Games. Last year's champions AEK will move to the PERISTERI ARENA, while Panathinaikos will use SPORTING INDOOR HALL (capacity: 1,862). For the same reason (upgrading works for the Olympics) the Peace & Friendship Stadium will close and Olympiakos B.C. will play their home games in the KORYDALLOS INDOOR HALL (capacity: 2,273).

Also, both teams that were promoted to the A1 Division will move to new homes. Olympia Larissa B.C. will play in the
LARISSA NEAPOLIS ARENA, which is much larger and more modern than their old home, Alkazar Indoor Hall. However, the most impressive move is that of Makedonikos B.C., who will be moving to a new city! They will leave Thessaloniki and the Neapolis Indoor Hall for the KOZANI INDOOR HALL (capacity: 1,500). Kozani is a city in west Macedonia, 130 km from Thessaloniki. The reason for this move, according to the club's president, was that "four teams in the A1 is too much for a city like Thessaloniki". Of course, one should notice the fact that the following of the club was always small and Makedonikos hope to enter a new market in Kozani, gaining all the relevant advantages. It must be noted that if this "experiment" proves to be successful, Makedonikos will move next season to the new Kozani Arena. It is scheduled to be ready by the summer of 2003 and it will have a capacity of about 4,000.