An amateur soccer team in Greece was a little short on cash for the club, so naturally they turned their focus to landing sponsors. In an effort to leave no stone unturned, Voukefalas has landed two different sponsors which are brothels. As a reminder, prostitution is legal in Greece, even though the brothels do have strict guidelines.
According to the AP:
Players on a cash-strapped Greek soccer team now wear pink practice jerseys with the logos “Villa Erotica” and “Soula’s House of History,” two bordellos it recruited as sponsors after drastic government spending cuts left the country’s sports clubs facing ruin.
Prostitution is legal in Greece, where brothels operate under strict guidelines. Though garish neon signs advertising their services are tolerated, the soccer sponsorship has ruffled some feathers in the sports-mad city of Larissa. League organizers have banned the pink jerseys during games, saying the deal violates “the sporting ideal” and is inappropriate for underage fans.
With Greece’s economy in a very bad place (6th straight year in a recession), you can’t blame the club for looking elsewhere for any and all funding.
With the jerseys being banned, owner Soula Alveridou is not that pleased:
Brothel owner Soula Alevridou, the team’s new benefactor, has already paid more than $1,300 for players to wear her jerseys. The team is appealing the game ban, but that doesn’t worry the 67-year-old Ms. Alevridou, who says she’s only in it because she loves soccer.
“It’s not the kind of business that needs promotion,” she said, dressed all in white and flanked by two young women in dark leggings at a recent game. “It’s a word-of-mouth kind of thing.”
Her businesses, plushly decorated pastel-colored bungalows where 14 women are employed, have weathered the country’s financial disaster far better than most, and she readily acknowledges her success.
“If we don’t help our scientists and athletes, where will we be?” she asked. “Greece has educated people, cultured people and good athletes. It’s better to help them than take our money to Switzerland.”
Wearing a straw fedora with a leopard print band, Ms. Alevridou watched in disappointment as her team lost its fourth straight game, 1-0, despite her promise to players of “a special time” at her businesses if they won.
H/T Deadspin
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