January 23rd, 2002 KARAISKAKI STADIUM will be the venue of the final in the 2004 Olympic football tournament. The Greek Olympic Committee (GOC), who own the stadium, finally came to a new agreement with Olympiakos and the upgrading of Karaiskaki will go through. This ends more than a year’s of speculation as to future of the Piraeus club historic home. According to a GOC announcement, Karaiskaki will be ready by the end of 2003 and will be leased until 2027 to the building consortium (Olympiakos 49%, ALTE Construction Company 49%, Agiostratitis-architect 2%). This should, of course, mean that the plans for the new Rendi Stadium would be abandoned. However, this might not be the case, as there are rumours that Olympiakos will eventually go on with them and will only return to Karaiskaki for a couple of years, until their new stadium is ready. Nothing is final yet, as there is still no official response from the club. The only sure thing is that Karaiskaki will host the football final (and probably some more matches) in the 2004 Olympics, as this was yesterday announced by the IOC vice-president Mr. Denis Oswald. Related articles: Olympiakos look set to return once again to Karaiskaki (2/10/2001) Olympiakos abandon Karaiskaki and will build new stadium (31/8/01) Panahaiki Stadium probable home for Olympiakos in 2002 (1/7/01)