At the Vouliagmeni Nautical Club, we feel the need to take a public stand, following our "guerrilla" withdrawal with the women's water polo team from the C Phase of the A' Women's League against Ethnikos Piraeus.
In a match that we all expected to be canceled by the KOE, but the federation did not consider it appropriate.
In a competition where we made our physical presence known, but we kept the team outside the indoor swimming pool, judging that the safety of our athletes was at stake, since we knew that 2 athletes from another team were sick.
We expressed our strong concerns to a representative of the Federation, to the Chief of Staff, to the Referees and they all declared us incompetent. They all referred us to the Board of Directors of the Greek Football Federation, which would meet the next day. And we had to take a risk. Which of course we did not do and we will never do it, no matter what the cost of our decision. We did the obvious, since the Greek Football Federation had not foreseen to make the decision at the right time for the health of our people, and did not listen to our concerns. Therefore, we left the field of play, assuming the consequences that the Greek Football Federation would impose on us for our withdrawal.
A bold, but responsible decision which was followed by the other 3 clubs that participated in the 2th A decision that was confirmed to be wise by the Joint Ministerial Decision, which was made public after a few hours and "sealed" swimming pools throughout the country.
It is a fact that we are living in unprecedented situations.
A rapidly evolving reality, which overturns the data every day. A reality that tests our readiness, responsibility and adaptability to the new data defined primarily by the pandemic, and then by the state. We see the entire country mobilized immediately for the good of public health, with Joint Ministerial Decrees being implemented in no time and additional restrictive measures emerging every day to protect public health.
In a situation of such a global crisis, at the Vouliagmeni Nautical Club we understand that the essence is the safety of public health. We do not insist on bureaucratic and formalistic procedures, but we make decisions without painstaking: the K.O.E. states that “it did not receive any relevant written request from the unions”. We really wonder: do you need a document to do the right thing?
The KOE also states that "only last Monday 9/3 did the clubs agree to the match schedule". Every day, things change. What was valid last Monday 9/3 is no longer valid 2 days later and we are all experiencing it in practice. One only has to read the current affairs.
Finally, the KOE in its announcement leaves hints that our team trained the next day. It is a fact that our A1 team trained in our open swimming pool, where 15 people participated, with a health check for each individual and without any illness incidents like last night. And when the corresponding Joint Ministerial Decree that was in force set a maximum number of people in the open swimming pool at 60.
The Vouliagmeni Nautical Club was "accused" of starting a rebellion, dragging the other groups along. We are proud of our decision despite the fact that the KOE is imposing sanctions on us. It was a wise decision, which was practically applauded by the state itself, which suspended the operation of swimming pools throughout the country.
We wish everyone strength, patience and cooperation with the authorities to overcome the vortex we are in.
