South Melbourne FC secured a spot in the Dockerty Cup semi-final on Wednesday night, after coming from behind against Heidelberg United to win 2-1.
The match was held at Olympic Village and saw South Melbourne losing in the first half after having missed three opportunities.
The second half was eventful with Heidelberg opening the scoring in the 54th minute with a goal by Asahi Yokokawa. But South Melbourne’s Andy Brennan (67′) and Nahuel Bonada (88′) turned the match around, leading Hellas to victory.
South Melbourne will now face Hume City in the semi-final for a place in the Dockerty Cup final. The semi-finals will most likely be held on Tuesday, July 16 or Wednesday, July 17.
Debbie Markey, 62, and overseas workers Pin-Yu Wang, Hsin-Yu Chen, Wai Yan Lam and Zih-Yao Chen were killed in the smash.
The Strathmerton crash is the deadliest in the state in more than a decade. Picture: Ian Currie.
Police alleged that Mr Joannidis was travelling at 118km/h in a 100km/h zone and charged him with five counts of dangerous driving causing death after he admitted to being the driver of the Mercedes. Mr Joannidis also returned a positive test for cannabis, although a follow-up reading was negative.
At the time, Assistant Commissioner Glenn Weir said it was Victoria’s deadliest road crash in more than a decade.
Mr Joannidis was set to face trial later this month in Shepparton after pleading not guilty to the charges. However, he faced the County Court in Melbourne today and changed his plea.
“Guilty,” Mr Joannidis said, when asked his response to the charges.
Mr Joannidis, who is out on bail, was supported by family members in court and will face a pre-sentence hearing on November 27.
Greek tennis star Maria Sakkari is into the third round at Wimbledon after defeating Arantxa Rus 7-5, 6-3 on Wednesday evening.
The 1st set was quite close, with Sakkari erasing both the 2 break points she faced, one in the 5th game (2-2, 30-40) and another in the 7th game (3-3, 30-40), to capitalise on her first break point in the crucial 12th game and take the set 7-5.
In the 2nd set, things were simpler for the top Greek tennis player, who was not threatened at all on her serve. She threatened to break early and finally succeeded in the 8th game, to take the last three games of the match and finish it in 89 minutes.
The win sees Sakkari avoid another early exit at Grand Slams, with the Greek having not made the second week of a major since 2021. This is her best result since the 2023 Australian Open.
Sakkari, ranked No 9, will face wildcard Emma Raducanu next.
The Dominican Republic tried their best to spoil the party for 11,648 fans in the stands, but Greece were on another level to start their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament campaign.
Greece took full control of the game right from the start, storming to a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and never looked back.
Dominican Republic’s coach Che Garcia wanted a stubborn approach from his team despite the deficit, and he got it, as their three-point shooting allowed the team to reduce the gap to 10 points, but they never got close enough to get into single digits and test Greece’s patience.
Once Greece started knocking down their three-pointers, in the second half, it was only a matter of waiting for the final margin.
Giannis Antetokounmpo had not played an official basketball game for nearly three months. There was no visible rust, his dunk opened up the scoring and every single thing he did on the court in just 18 minutes of work looked like he was at 100 percent. The Greek superstar finished with 32 points on 11-of-11 shooting from the field, getting an efficiency rating of 34.
Greece shot 16-of-30 from three-point range, as nine different players knocked down at least one three-pointer.
Greece’s coach Vassilis Spanoulis gave the green light to all of his players to shoot, including the center Georgios Papagiannis popping behind the three-point line and knocking down a pair of threes. This free-shooting Greece was a joy to watch for the home crowd in Piraeus.
Thanasi Kokkinakis saved four match points to win a five-set thriller against 17th-seeded Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime at Wimbledon on Thursday morning.
In a rollercoaster match spanning two days because of rain delays, the 28-year-old set tennis history by becoming the eighth man in this year’s draw to come back from two sets down in a 4-6, 5-7, 7-6 (11/9), 6-4, 6-4 victory against Auger-Aliassime.
It’s the most two sets to love comebacks in the first round at Wimbledon in the Open Era.
The match lasted four hours and 38 minutes, and finished more than 24 hours after it started. Having kept himself alive by surviving four match points in the third set tie-breaker before rain delayed the action on day two, Kokkinakis was a different player on day three to oust the 17th seed.
Asked about his vow in Paris to avoid continuing to put himself in positions where he had to launch massive comeback, Kokkinakis smiled and shook his head on Wednesday evening after his win.
“Clearly (I was thinking) ‘Not again,’ but I just do whatever it takes,” he said.
Kokkinakis will play France’s Lucas Pouille in the second round.
Members of the Greek Community of Melbourne (GCM) will vote on proposed amendments to the Community’s Constitution at a Special General Meeting (SGM) on Sunday, July 21 from 5pm.
The SGM will be held at Alphington Grammar, Alphington, and will focus on three ‘Items of Business’:
Preliminary Amendment: Members will consider a special resolution to modify Article 60 of the current Constitution by removing the words “(save and except Clauses 3 and 4 which shall be unalterable)”.
Adoption of Replacement Constitution: A special resolution will be proposed to repeal and replace the current Constitution with a new version tabled by the Chairman of the SGM.
Approval of Member-Proposed Amendments: The Community will vote on a special resolution to amend the Constitution with changes proposed by members in 2023.
The Constitutional reforms were brought up at the GCM’s AGM earlier this year.
A proposed “modernised” replacement Constitution has since been prepared, along with a marked-up document highlighting differences from the current Constitution, to clearly identify all proposed amendments. These will both be presented to members at the SGM and include changes around excluding gender specific language, broadening eligibility for membership, members not directing the Directors, and the removal of certain provisions for priests, among many other issues.
According to an Explanatory Memorandum provided to GCM members prior to the SGM, these proposed changes are necessary as the current Constitution: (1) is a very dated document which does not accord with a number of current legal concepts, (2) does not reflect either modern corporate practice or contemporary concepts of good corporate governance, and (3) contains numerous anachronisms, conflicts, inconsistencies and unclear provisions.
An information meeting to talk through the SGM and the tabled amendments has been set for Sunday, June 7 at 2pm at the Greek Centre (168 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne).
For further details and inquiries, members are urged to contact the GCM’s office on 9662 2722 or by email: info@greekcommunity.com.au. Digital copies of both the “modernised” Constitution and “marked-up” version are available at: https://bit.ly/4boGFAp
Melissa Afentoulis was contemplating retirement after accomplishing a lot in her extended community services career, however, decided to embark on a PhD in Arts at the University of Melbourne instead.
This is where she soon realised that her life’s hopes and dreams had “come to fruition”.
Beginning early in her career as a social worker who helped to develop a new migrant resource centre, and acting as the CEO of a women’s health organization, Afentoulis found it wasn’t easy to retire after still feeling she could give so much from her experiences.
“When you’ve been working continuously all of those years, in both enjoyable and challenging roles, you can’t just stop,” Afentoulis says. “I look back and think, ‘How did I ever do all these things?’”
Afentoulis, the child of working-class Greek immigrants, came to Brunswick from the island of Lemnos at the age of nine. She became the first member of her family to attend university when she enrolled in an undergraduate program at the University of Melbourne.
Regularly going back to Lemnos over the years, she realised something interesting: the increasing numbers of younger people who were born in other countries but still returning to the home country of their parents and grandparents.
“Whereas I was born there, and I had an existing connection, [they] were coming back for their holidays and not just loving it, but really making a connection that they had never had before,” Afentoulis says.
Afentoulis shared her views with a couple she met at a dinner party, who inquired whether she had considered pursuing a PhD on the subject. She chose to apply after being inspired by their belief in her.
Dr Melissa Afentoulis’ published PhD.
“I wrote a proposal. I wasn’t sure if it was on the right track, nor did I really know what starting a PhD involved. Not only was I accepted, but they offered me a scholarship!”
Afentoulis’ PhD sheds light on late-twentieth-century Australian immigration experiences. She implemented oral history to investigate how migration shapes identity and belonging while simultaneously influencing migration.
Her study, she believes, has raised awareness of Lemnos identity and established parallels between their experiences and those of immigrants in general, particularly those who came to Australia after the war.
“There are three cohorts in my oral history data,” Afentoulis explained.
“There are the first-generation immigrants, then there’s the second generation – the children and grandchildren of that cohort – and there are those who didn’t leave the island. They’re the three groups that interact.”
Afentoulis’ supervisor, Professor Joy Damousi AM also has a Greek background and is an expert in oral history and migration history.
“Our relationship was pretty pragmatic. She would give me the framework and I’d go back to my desk and think ‘what do I do now?’ But she had faith in me. When I reflect, I couldn’t have had a better supervisor.”
Afentoulis claims that her study has not only given her academic fulfillment, but also had a major influence on her personal life.
“At a personal level, it was part of the connection I had made back to my homeland myself,” she says. “I wanted to see it through the eyes of others.”
A sold-out concert was held to commemorate 50 years since the Turkish invasion of Cyprus at The Cyprus Club in Stanmore, Sydney on Sunday, June 30.
On the night, the Orpheus Choir performed powerful songs in memory of the victims of the Turkish invasion, encouraging the audience to take part as well.
The Choir was conducted by Vasili, alongside bouzouki player, Tassos Lambrou, Steve on the drums, Minas on Keyboard and Peter on bass.
MC and organiser of the evening, Elli Stassi, provided all in attendance with a memorable and successful event which combined cultural connection and historic pride.
Well-known Greek Australian journalist Vasso Morali has appealed a Greek court’s decision to sentence her to 11 months imprisonment with a three-year suspension due to her online defamatory slander and insult of Greek Orthodox Archbishop Makarios of Australia.
The defamation case between Ms Morali and Archbishop Makarios concerned posts made by the journalist on Facebook four years ago. They were in relation to the production of a documentary tribute to the late Archbishop Stylianos, as well as public allegations against Archbishop Makarios about a series of financial and moral issues.
The conviction against Ms Morali has been welcomed by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia (GOAA) in a statement released on Tuesday, July 2.
Archbishop Makarios of Australia welcomed the court’s decision.
“This decision, as a first-degree jurisdiction of the Greek Courts, not only restores the severe and unethical insult suffered by His Eminence Archbishop Makarios but also sends a message in many directions that any reprehensible act cannot be without consequences,” the statement reads.
This is not the only defamation case Archbishop Makarios is taking to the courts. The Archbishop has also filed lawsuits in Greece and Australia against:
The ecclesiastical website Exapsalmos/exapsalmos.gr and its head Sotiris Tzoumas, for “defamation” and “insult to personality” with a claim for compensation amounting to 250,000 euros;
Athens lawyer (and nephew of the late Archbishop Stylianos of Australia) Nikolaos D. Kalliouris, also for “defamation,” with a claim for compensation amounting to 300,000 euros; and
Greek journalist Alkis Morelas for a series of publications about the works Archbishop Makarios and his associates.
A Greek Orthodox priest from Sydney has been found guilty of sexually touching a number of women, The Greek Herald can reveal.
Father Mario “George” Fayjloun was connected to the Central Mangrove Greek Orthodox congregation, and was charged in September 2021 with nine counts of aggravated sexual touching. He pleaded not guilty to the charges in December 2021.
Father Fayjloun’s case was before Liverpool Local Court on Tuesday, June 25 where Magistrate Gareth Christofi found the Greek Orthodox priest guilty of all nine charges against him.
Father Mario ‘George’ Fayjloun. Photo: The Australian.
According to court documents, the incidents allegedly occurred at the Greek Orthodox church in Central Mangrove and at a home in Bankstown between August 2019 and February 2020.
Father Fayjloun allegedly made home visits to a parishioner’s family, when he made unwanted sexual advances towards the mother and two of her children. The priest denies the allegations and claims the sexual touching between him and the mother was consensual. His defence argued the daughters “fabricated allegations” to protect their mother.
Following the Magistrate’s guilty verdict, Father Fayjloun will be sentenced in August 2024. He remains on conditional bail.
