“The Government’s intention is to develop it in “OAKA, Thessaloniki”, the Deputy Minister of Sports stressed, in an interview he gave to radio station “Radio Thessaloniki”. Speaking from Brussels where he is, in order to attend the European Union Sports Ministers meeting, Giannis Brutsis revealed that the bill expected to be consulted in one week will explicitly provide for the compulsory existence of a defibrillator in all sports facilities, and added that the codification of sports legislation is expected to be completed in April 2025. The Deputy Minister of Sports spoke about the upgrades that take place in the country’s major sports centers, with the emphasis of OAKA and the Cautenzoglio, for which he stressed that the aim is to transform into “a sports facility where major sports events can be held and given to the benefit of the sports youth of Thessaloniki, but also to all the athletes of the city, with facilities modern and fully accessible.” Mr. Brutsis reiterated the unprecedented increase in the funding of all R & D & D&I, but mainly of the Caucasus, by 150% a year, which is the largest of any other National Sports Centre. He pointed out that Cytanzoglio is already used with a capacity of 8,200 spectators and the goal is, once the relevant studies are completed, the Stadium to reach its full capacity. Already, he added, the major issue of fire safety is being solved, a study is being prepared on the energy upgrading of its sites, while smaller and larger interventions are proceeding around the field. Responding to a question, regarding the proposal of the Mayor of Thessaloniki, Stelios Angeloudis for the conduct of Mediterranean Games in Thessaloniki, Giannis Brutsis commented that “extroversion and major events are a goal of the Government’s policy on sport, but all the conditions need to be ensured first, so that we can move seriously and responsibly on announcements.” He stressed the excellent relations with the mayor and their good cooperation in many areas, announced the launch of Triandria, while he revealed that “Soon Mr. Angeloudis will announce something that we agreed on last Sunday when we met in Thessaloniki, and will be another project for the benefit of Greek sport and the city.” Referring to his work “Mikra 4”, which will house the National Basketball Teams, the Deputy Minister of Sports stressed that he would also function supportively in the needs of other team sports, as his programming contract with the Region of Central Macedonia will be ready within the next few days. The project will cost 1.2m euros, 700,000 from the Ministry of Sports resources and 500,000 from the Region, with a timetable for completion in the first quarter of 2026. – With regard to the new bill to be consulted (the third on his term of office in the Ministry), Mr. Brutsis focused on the law-enforcement of all the country’s sports facilities to have defibrillators during their operation. “Or they will not be able to operate for any reason” was his characteristic statement. In addition, he stressed that in April 2025 the codification of sports legislation is expected to be completed, so “the sports family will finally have a new modern, simple and comprehensible law, while now we are involved with complicated provisions that overlap each other and their meaning is lost.” Finally, Mr Brutsis has clearly advocated the re-establishment of sports schools, announced by the Minister of Education, Kyriakos Pierrakakis, last week, pointing out that the best process for their re-establishment needs to be found, as their need is real. Source: RES-AE
Brutsis: “Caitanzoglio to become the OAKA of Thessaloniki”
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in Sports