The Municipality of Spata–Artemida charges AEK 100 euros per hour plus VAT for the U17 academy’s training sessions at the ‘Dimitrios Dimitriou’ Municipal Stadium in Spata. The concession was approved by a majority vote at the Municipal Council meeting on 8 September, and the contract covers the period from 24 August 2026 to 31 May 2027.
The schedule is fixed: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, from 15:30 to 17:00. Four ninety-minute training sessions a week, on an 11-a-side pitch, with changing rooms included in the hire.
In monetary terms, each training session costs 150 euros plus VAT; the weekly cost is 600 euros plus VAT if all four sessions take place; and the monthly cost is approximately 2,400 euros plus VAT for sixteen training sessions. The final amount is not fixed: it is calculated each month based on actual usage, whilst any additional hours or days requested by the team will incur an extra charge.
AEK’s obligations include full responsibility for the use of the facilities, the provision of coaches and medical staff at its own expense, and an explicit prohibition on making the ground available to third parties.
The decision was not passed unanimously. The then deputy mayor, Filippos Argyros, voted against it, arguing that, for a club of AEK’s size, the financial benefit to the municipality was disproportionately small, and estimated the annual revenue at around 20,000 euros, describing it as ‘peanuts’. Vasilis Gorgomytis also voted against the motion, whilst Myrto Tsigkouli abstained.
The following day, on 9 September, Filippos Argyros resigned as deputy mayor and broke away from Mayor Dimitris Markou’s political group. The vote on AEK was not the sole cause of the rift, which has now taken the form of a public dispute over the municipal authority’s fulfilment of its commitments; but it is the last recorded disagreement he had within the council before leaving.
Beyond the political dimension, the issue that directly concerns residents is the availability of the facility. Sixteen hours a month between 15:30 and 17:00, four days a week, is an afternoon slot that local academies are also vying for at municipal sports grounds. The decision relates to specific times and not to exclusive use of the stadium, and the council has not published a comprehensive usage schedule showing what time slots remain available for local clubs.
This issue arises at a time when the Council is taking a fresh look at how it utilises its sports facilities as a whole. A few days later, on 16 September, an emergency council meeting suspended the concession of the indoor sports hall at Mazareko to the OAKA, an issue that remains unresolved.
As the charge is calculated on the basis of actual usage, it will only become clear at the end of the season how much the council will ultimately receive. A financial statement published in June would effectively answer the question of whether the sums involved are ‘peanuts’ or not.
Source: Municipality of Spata – Artemida, Municipal Council decision of 8 September 2026 granting the use of the ‘Dimitrios Dimitriou’ Municipal Stadium to AEK FC for its Under-17 academy.
