Sydney Olympic FC have replaced First Grade coach Terry Palapanis for the season reboot this year after failing to negotiate a revised contract.
The Belmore club, along with other National Premier League teams, were
forced to take precautionary measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Players were asked to take on a reduced salary for the 2020 season. All players were fully accepting of the new wage offer and were happy to ensure the future success of the club.
CEO John Boulous said;
“We are a very lucky that our players appreciate the financial impact from decreased funding and sponsorship on the Club due to COVID-19 . Our playing groups have all been willing to accept revised terms in their agreements to ensure we put the Club at the forefront of all decisions and are able to participate in the proposed competition”.
Sydney Olympic FC first grade team. Photo: Peter Oglos
The Club was unable to reach an agreement with Men’s Head Coach and Senior Technical Director Terry Palapanis for the rebooted season. Terry will continue in the role of Senior Technical Director and continue to report to the CEO and Club Board.
The decision has meant the Club Technical Director and former Sydney Olympic player and Hall of Fame member Ante Juric will assume the coaching role for the 1st grade team for the 11 round competition.
”While disappointed we were unable to reach an agreement with Terry for this revised competition around the Coaching role, we are lucky to have a coach of Ante’s experience on staff at the Club and he is able to step into the role immediately to take the squad as we prepare for the competition”.
Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge with NPL player representatives. Photo: Football NSW
The season reboot was announced at the beginning of July, recommencing in a revised format from late-July/early August and conclude in October. Played with no prize money, the season will allow clubs to work on player development and give players the opportunity to play football on a competitive stage.
“I want to pay tribute to all our clubs, administrators, officials,
volunteers, players and coaches who have worked together to ensure NPL football
would continue to be played this season,” Football NSW CEO Stuart Hodge
said.
“I would like to thank everyone for their patience, understanding, unity and
commitment to play despite these challenging times.”
Greek health authorities are on high alert after a total of 103 COVID-19 cases have now been recorded since the country opened to mass tourism on July 1.
On Tuesday, 17 of the 27 new confirmed cases were imported. On Wednesday, additional new cases have been spotted among tourists in the islands of Thassos and Evia.
There are fears that many more infected individuals have slipped into Greece, mainly across its northern border, potentially spreading the disease to locals and tourists alike.
The four cases on the island of Thassos have been located and isolated in a quarantine hotel. The incidents were detected after the result of their blood tests, which were administered upon their entrance into the country, became available.
The individuals were all Bulgarian and Serbian nationals — all of whom were asymptomatic.
Greece has since banned all but essential travel from Serbia as the infection numbers steadily rise in the Balkan country.
Infectious disease expert, Professor Nikos Sipsas, warned on Tuesday that arrivals through Greece’s northern land borders from countries with a high rate of coronavirus infections, are threatening to derail the country’s remarkable progress in containing COVID-19.
“Promachonas, the crossing into northern Greece from countries where the epidemic is like a boiling pot, is a problem,” Sipsas said, speaking to Skai TV. “It is a significant danger for Greece.”
“I wish I never knew. It’s turned my life upside down,” begins 49-year-old Andriana as we sit down for our exclusive chat. She’s referring to how she only recently discovered she was adopted – a fact her parents, who have passed away, never told her about.
“I will
never get full closure because my parents took the answers with them. I was
angry with them for a long time. Not because of the adoption but for the lie.
It’s the lie that kills me.”
Andriana
describes her life as ‘The Original Truman Show.’ She says she always felt she
didn’t belong when she was younger. Not only was she always missing from family
photos, but a routine blood test at age 21 showed Andriana had thalassemia
minor, a genetic condition neither of her parents had. It just wasn’t adding
up.
Until one day three years ago when all the missing pieces of the puzzle came together. Andriana and her family visited a family friend in Greece, who had reached out to her after her mother’s death, and as they were leaving her house she said the words which would change Andriana’s world forever.
Andriana being baptised. Photo supplied.
“She said,
‘wow you look so much like your mother.’ And I said, ‘No I look like my dad’
and I actually did look like my dad. And she said, ‘No. The mother who gave
birth to you’,” Andriana tells The Greek Herald with tears in her eyes.
“I asked her
to repeat herself and she said, ‘What? You didn’t know you were adopted?’ And
my whole world fell apart. It just fell apart.
“I rang my
nouna and I said, ‘I’ve learnt something. I want you to tell me the truth.’ She
started screaming down the phone ‘why did she tell you?’ So the whole community
I’ve grown up in, everybody knew. Everybody from the part of Greece my parents
are from, to the neighbours of where I grew up, to family friends.”
Now although
Andriana says she doesn’t blame these people for knowing and not telling her,
it was still an important trigger which pushed her to find out more about the
woman who gave birth to her.
“What
if I’m not Greek?”:
As Andriana’s search for her biological mother began, she says not knowing whether she was Greek hugely affected her.
Andriana as a young girl. Photo supplied.
“I had this
huge identity crisis. I said to my husband, ‘It doesn’t bother me that I’m
adopted but what if I’m not Greek? What do I do then?’ I’m Greek. My kids are
Greek, I look Greek, I cook Greek. Greek is who and what I am,” Andriana says.
Fortunately
for her, her official birth certificate showed that her biological mother,
Maria*, was in fact Greek and actually gave birth to her on May 15, 1970, in
Sydney. It is here where the story, which has been pieced together from a file
“three times bigger than the Bible,” becomes heartbreaking.
“On May 8,
1971, a few days before I turned one, my biological mother took me into
children’s services and abandoned me. I became a ward of the state. The only
thing she told the service workers was that she wanted me to go to a Greek
family and that I had to be raised as Greek Orthodox,” Andriana says.
“So I was
put in an orphanage for about three weeks, followed by emergency foster care
for a week and a half, back to the orphanage and then my mum and dad adopted me.”
Finding out you were abandoned would have stopped anyone from searching for their biological mother. But the same can’t be said for Andriana.
Andriana was rarely in family photos. Photo supplied.
One small
Facebook search later and the next thing she knew she was having a phone
conversation with her biological mother. Over the phone, Maria not only told Andriana
that she had a half-brother and sister, but she also confirmed that she did
leave “a girl with blue eyes” behind when she left Australia for Greece.
This was the
only confirmation Andriana needed to hop onto a flight to Greece in October 2019
to meet her biological mother once and for all.
“I get off
the plane and she’s waiting at the airport… It was like I was looking in the
mirror. A much older version than me but I look exactly like her,” Andriana
explains.
“That first
night we visited my half-sister, who I’m still really close with, and Maria and
I were sitting on the couch and she says to me ‘are you happy that you found
your mother?’ And I looked at her, I’ll never forget this, and said ‘You are
the woman who gave birth to me. You’re not my mother. My mother has passed away.’
She responded with ‘maybe one day’.”
“I’m
grateful she gave me up”:
It’s this
fierce protectiveness over the parents who raised her which remains a constant
throughout Andriana’s journey to find her biological mother.
Despite lying to her and keeping secrets all her life, Andriana takes any chance to defend their actions and protect them from criticism. In fact, her own father was still alive when she first found out she was adopted and instead of telling him she knew and asking for answers, she decided to not tell him.
“What am I
going to tell him?” Andriana said rhetorically when I asked why she never told
him. “It would’ve sent him to his grave earlier.”
“At the end
of the day it doesn’t bother me that I was adopted because I had a fantastic
upbringing. I had a loving set of parents. I was the apple of their eye… You
couldn’t wish for better parents.
“Maria gave
birth to me and that’s it. I can say that quite clearly. I have an affection
for her. I don’t love her. Am I grateful she gave birth for me? Yes I am
because I wouldn’t be here. But I’m also grateful she gave me up because I had
my parents and they were bloody amazing.”
A tale of
secrecy and lies which doesn’t even come close to breaking the strong bond
between a daughter and her parents.
* Names have been changed to protect privacy.
The
Greek version of this article can be found in print on July 8, 2020.
The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia recently announced that all Greek Orthodox churches in Victoria will be closed to the faithful from today, July 8.
The closures are in response to COVID-19 restrictions placed by the Victorian government, which dictate that all places of public worship are to be closed.
“It is with great sadness and pastoral anguish that I am watching the unfortunate developments in Melbourne, and the wider Victoria region,” His Eminence Archbishop Makarios says.
“It is clear that the cessation of public worship means that our Churches will be closed to the faithful. However, all the Sequences, memories of the Saints, and Divine Liturgies will be performed only by the priest and the singer, while the sacraments and funerals will be performed according to the instructions of the State.
“I urge you to comply with these guidelines by properly listening to our priests and the Board of Directors of your Archdiocese, and at the same time I urge you to intensify your prayers to God, the Giver of Intervention, whose intervention awaits all humanity.”
His Eminence has sent a message to the Archbishop of Melbourne, Grace Bishop Ezekiel of Dervis, and to Reverend Archimandrite Fr Evmenios Vasilopoulos.
Prosecutors will explore whether a young man who allegedly caused a crash that killed two Adelaide mothers in April was having a “manic episode” at the time, a court has heard.
Harrison Kitt, 20, today walked into the Adelaide Magistrates Court on crutches to face the allegations for the first time. He has been charged with two counts of dangerous driving causing death and is yet to plead to the allegations.
Senior Greek Australian police officer Joanne Shanahan, 55, and mother Tania McNeill, 53, died in the crash at the intersection of Cross Road and Fullarton Road at Urrbrae on April 25.
Prosecutor Patrick Hill told the court that investigators had already taken 90 witness statements but still had to seek further material.
He said Major Crash investigators were yet to undertake a “complex scene reconstruction” that would determine the speed Mr Kitt was travelling at before impact.
“We need statements from medical personnel who treated the accused after the crash,” he said.
PHOTO: (L) Late Detective Chief Superintendent Joanne Shanahan’s husband and kids gathered at the scene on Tuesday / Image: 10 News First (R) Tributes to Joanne Shanahan and Tania McNeill at the scene of the crash.
The prosecutor said investigators also needed to explore Mr Kitt’s mental health and behaviour in the week leading up to the crash.
“We need a formal inquiry into the accused’s mental state at the time if there’s to be a declaration he suffered a manic episode or psychosis,” he said.
David Edwardson QC, for Mr Kitt, told the court that drugs and alcohol were not factors in the crash. He said reports into his client’s mental competence could not be ordered until he has been committed to a higher court. The case was adjourned for eight weeks.
Last night SAPOL lost one of its finest and most senior female police officers. Detective Chief Superintendent Joanne…
Joanne Shanahan (nee Panayiotou) was a mother-of-two and well-respected Detective Chief Superintendent prior to her tragic death.
“Not only have we lost a beautiful person, we’ve lost a detective with a wealth of knowledge,’ Commissioner Stevens told media upon her death.
Police officers and SA community bid a public farewell to Joanne on May 8, with police flanking the streets of Adelaide’s inner south to say their last goodbyes.
The General Consulate in Melbourne, following the recent announcement from the Government of Victoria, will only be processing emergency cases from July 9, 2020.
For a period of six weeks, the Consulate General has advised the public not to visit the Greek headquarters in Melbourne. No new appointments will be made during the afore-mentioned period, with the Consulate General warning applicants to carefully decide whether it is indeed an urgency to visit.
Below is a list of the temporarily amended and suspended application requests:
Verification of documents will discontinue.
Applications for Greek passports will be accepted in emergency cases only, such as immediate travel to the Hellenic Republic or in an urgent pending case with Australian Immigration. New Greek passports which will be received by the Consulate General during the afore-mentioned period will be handed over to their owners.
Applications for power of attorneys that have already been submitted to the Consulate General will be processed. New applications can only be handled in urgent cases.
Registration of acts (births, marriages, deaths) and applications for Greek citizenship are not considered urgent cases at this point.
Certifications for national service will not be handled.
Visa applications for travel to the Hellenic Republic or France cannot be submitted. The announcement on the website “GREEK CONSULATE GENERAL RESTARTS ISSUING SCHENGEN VISAS”, dated 6 July 2020, no longer applies.
The Consulate General thanks everyone for their cooperation and asks for their understanding for these new and temporary measures.
Adelaide YouTube pranksters Danny and Michael Philippou are bringing their film-making talents to the big screen after securing funding for their debut feature film.
The twins from Pooraka have been running the YouTube channel ‘RackaRacka’ for over six years, creating skits and pranks for their 6.2 million subscribers.
What they describe as a “dream come true”, the two brothers will be co-writing and directing the film alongside Michael Beck, The Advertiser reports.
“When we first heard, I just cried. It’s what we’ve always wanted to do. All the YouTube stuff, it’s been building towards filmmaking. It’s everything we’ve been trying to do since we started making stuff when we were 9 years old – that’s been our one goal,” he said.
The film is set to be a horror flick called ‘Talk To Me’ which follows a girl who conjures spirits through a disembodied hand and becomes plagued by supernatural visions.
“It’s a lot more of a serious film. It’s a film about connection and – metaphorically – about depression. In terms of the tone, it’s very different from our RackaRacka stuff,” said Danny.
YouTube stars and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou are making a feature film. Picture: Matt Loxton/The Advertiser
Danny said the film is expected to begin shooting around SA early next year and feature a local cast and crew. The brothers were supported by the South Australian Film Corporation, being one of six projects to receive a share of $6 million in funding from Screen Australia.
Danny announced that ‘RackaRacka’ will continue produced fresh content, with viewers expected to receive a look behind the film-making process.
“It’s just about experimenting with different film techniques, that’s what our channel has always been about, that’s where we workshop our skills there,” he said.
“That’s what the audience wants and that will always be there.”
Michael Philippou appeared in court at the beginning of 2020 for a prank that was deemed dangerous by authorities. The Greek Australian YouTuber filled a car up with water and drove it to the Lonsdale pub in Adelaide.
The influx of refugees and migrants to the islands in the first half of 2020 was reduced by 51% compared to the first six months of 2019, according to data released by the Migration Ministry on Monday.
The decrease in the second quarter of 2020 (April-June) reached 92% compared to the corresponding period of 2019. Government spokesperson Stelios Petsas also noted in his briefing that flows decreased by 46% across the country.
At the same time, according to the same data, primary decisions on asylum applications increased by 88%. Specifically, in the first half of 2020, 46,554 decisions were issued compared to 24,701 in the corresponding period of 2019.
Αποχώρησαν όλοι οι πρόσφυγες από την Πλ. Βικτώριας σε προσωρινά καταλύματα. Χάρη στις ενέργειες της Ελ. Αστυνομίας & της Υπηρεσίας Πρώτης Υποδοχής του Υπ. Μετανάστευσης & Ασύλου. Και παρά την προσπάθεια αλληλέγγυων, να εκμεταλλευτούν τον ανθρώπινο πόνο για δημιουργία εντυπώσεων. pic.twitter.com/JuKJZNuuFD
Greek authorities transferred 150 recognised refugees from Victoria Square yesterday, moving them to reception facilities in Skaramangas and Schisto in western Attica, Greece.
Men, women and children had camped at the square after they were forced out of camps on the islands due to the recent policy of the Migration Ministry to stop providing refugees with recognised status with accommodation and food.
According to police, the operation of transferring the refugees’ from camps was without incidents and police had to persuade them.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said on Tuesday he felt more comfortable picking up the phone to Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan since an ice-breaking call in June.
Mitsotakis also said Greece was not one of the European Union members which insisted on keeping Turkey off a list of safe countries in an unwinding of the COVID-19 travel restrictions. The EU stance has angered Ankara.
“We are neighbours, we have significant differences, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk,” Mitsotakis told Greece’s Skai radio.
Greece and Turkey disagree on a range of issues ranging from overflights in the Aegean Sea to gas reserves in the east Mediterranean. In March tensions went up a notch when thousands of refugees that Turkey hosts attempted to storm the border between the two countries in an effort to reach the EU.
Mitsotakis and Erdogan spoke by phone on June 26, the first time that the two had spoken in months. “It’s very important that the official channels of communication have been restored… that now we can pick up the phone at any moment and speak to the other about an issue.”
The Greek premier, who came to power a year ago, said Greece and Turkey had “very different views” on a range of matters.
“I have described to the Turkish president a resolution mechanism, but it is contingent on Turkey refraining from adding to tensions, something which would render that dialogue impossible.”
While it was a “little weird” having a virtual coach, Despina said the playoffs were a fun experience and is grateful to be able to sing again next week.
Kelly Rowland consoling an upset Despina Savva after almost being eliminated from The Voice Australia 2020. Photo: Nine Network
“It felt amazing getting the wild card, I get the chance to sing again on that stage and will do Kelly proud!”
Despina lost her battle to piano man Alex Weybury in the play offs on Sunday night, with the Greek Australian singing a rendition of Kim Carnes’ ‘Bette Davis Eyes’.
Devastated to be potentially leaving the competition, Despina broke down in tears and was consoled by a virtual Kelly Rowland. Seeing her incredible talent, Kelly used one of her two wildcards on Despina, bringing her into the grand final week.
Despina switched to #TeamKelly in the Battle Round of the competition, leaving Boy George’s team.
“Working with artists like Despina really gets all my senses going. You are so meant to be here and I want to see how you grow, but I want to be the Coach to help you get there,” Kelly said during the Battles.
Revealed in last nights episode, each contestant will be choosing their own song for their final performance and craft “what will be your most important performance yet.”
The artists will face off on Sunday 7.00pm and Monday and Tuesday at 7.30pm on Nine.
