PAOK Sports Arena

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Paok Sports Arena
Palataki

Location	Pylea, Thessaloniki
Broke ground	March 18, 1990
Opened	2000
Owner	PAOK BC
Tenants	PAOK BC, PAOK VC
Capacity	8,142

PAOK Sports Arena' (Greek:Κλειστό γήπεδο ΠΑΟΚ) is located in Thessaloniki, Greece and it hosts PAOK BC and PAOK VC departments. It is one of the most modern and beautiful multi-purpose venues in the World. It is in a suburb called Pylea 7 kilometers away from the city center. It was built in 2000 and in the same year it hosted the Euroleague and Greek Cup Final-fours. It is built on land donated by Ioannis Dedeoglou which PAOK BC holds an annual tournament in his honor. It has 8,142 seats for fans and guests and has 502 parkings spots. The PAOK volleyball department PAOK VC had to wait until 2002 to begin using the stadium.

1 Directions to the stadium
2 Construction of PAOK Sports Arena
3 Records
4 Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament
- 4.1 First Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament
- 4.2 Second Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament
5 Euroleague 2000 Final Four
- 5.1 Breakdown of Matches
  - 5.1.1 Final
- 5.2 Third place
  - 5.2.1 Semi-Finals
6 External links

[edit] Directions to the stadium

Map and location of arena.

The arena is located south of the city of Thessaloniki, 7 km from the centre, in a suburb called Pylea. Access by car: exit the city towards the airport and then turn left at the traffic lights to the "PAOK Sports Centre". The arena lies 300 m off the junction, on a small hill. Access by bus: use any of #69, #72 or #76 from central Egnatia St. After a 30min ride, they all stop near the previously mentioned traffic lights.

[edit] Construction of PAOK Sports Arena

PAOK BC had to wait 10 years from the laying of the foundation (March 18, 1990) and 12 years from the time Ioannis Dedeoglou donated the land (June 17, 1988). Ioannis and his brother Thanasis Dedeoglou first gave the dream of a major European stadium in 1991 by giving the lot and by PAOK managing to be the first Greek team to win the European Cup Winner's Cup. On 11 December 1991 reports were saying that the stadium would have 6,000 seats. But another major problem was the expropriations that had to be done. On September 7, 1995 more problems occurred because of an increase in the cost. Then on October 30, 1996 another remeditation took place which allowed for an increase to 8,150 seats and a proposal to entrust Thessaloniki to host the Euroleage Final Four increase to pressure to complete the stadium. On March 17, 1999 FIBA gladly accepts the offer and the construction increases speedily to finish. The outcome was that the stadium was not only ready to host the Final Four(18 and 20 of April) but three weeks earlier it hosts the Greek Cup Final Four (1 and 2 of April).

[edit] Records

The first game that took place inside the stadium was the first sem-final game between AEK and Amarousiou. AEK won and went to take on the Cup but it was Anatoli Zurbenko that made the first basket inside PAOK Sports Arena. It was 47 days later on March 17, 2000 that the first game with PAOK took place against Panathinaikos, the tickets started to sell quickly along with the souvenir t-shirts. PAOK might have lost that game(and the championship) but everyone wanted to see the new stadium of PAOK BC. It turned out to be the winner by acquiring this marvelous stadium and how it will be an integral part of its modern history.

[edit] Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament

[edit] First Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament

The first tournament took place in 2004 and four teams competed. They were Hemofarm, Panathinaikos, PAOK, and Ulker. The first games took place on September 24, 2004 which Panathinaikos won against Hemofarm 83-79 and PAOK beat Ulker 77-57. The very next day Hemofarm v. Ulker and PAOK v. Panathinaikos were going to decide who would earn the final positions. Hemofarm beat Ulker 84-74 for its third place finish and PAOK beat Panathinaikos in a close game 79-76 for first place.

[edit] Second Ioannis Dedeoglou Tournament

The second tournament was held in September 2005 the teams that participated were AEK, Barcelona, Red Star Belgrade, and PAOK. The first day of the tournament fans got to see a Greek derby between PAOK and AEK, which PAOK won 77-72. The next game of the day took place between Barcelona and Red Star which Barcelona won 77-67. The following day AEK was put against Red Star and lost 54-75. The final was a real feast for the eyes, it finished with both teams tied at 87 points; it was a great game which Barcelona ended up beating PAOK in overtime 102-101.