Greece Wins Water Polo World Cup, Owner Offers €200K Bonus
Greece's national men's water polo team has won the World Cup in Hungary, and the celebration is already turning into a payday. Yannis Alafouzos, owner of Panathinaikos, announced a 200,000 euro bonus for the players and coaching staff behind what is being called a historic triumph for Greek sport.
Alafouzos specifically praised head coach Thodoris Vlachos and his squad for the championship win, which was confirmed early Sunday morning. The Panathinaikos owner has a history of supporting amateur athletics beyond his club's formal obligations, and this gesture extends that pattern in a major way.
A World Cup title puts them at the very top of Greek water polo history.
The team landed back in Athens on Sunday at Eleftherios Venizelos International Airport to a large crowd of supporters who turned out to welcome them home. The scenes at the airport reflected the scale of what the squad pulled off in Budapest.
Greece's men's water polo team has long been among the elite in the sport, but a World Cup title puts them at the very top. The bonus from Alafouzos adds a financial exclamation point to what is already one of the biggest moments in Greek water polo history.
