Olympiakos blasts players for attending ‘coronavirus party’

Olympiakos’ team players (front row from L to R) Olympiakos’ Greek midfielder Georgios Masouras, Olympiakos’ Serbian forward Lazar Randelovic, Olympiakos’ Brazilian defender Rafinha, Olympiakos’ French midfielder Mathieu Valbuena, Olympiakos’ French midfielder Yann Mvila, (back row from L to R) Olympiakos’ Greek midfielder Andreas Bouchalakis, Olympiakos’ Greek defender Jose Holebas, Olympiakos’ Moroccan forward Youssef El-Arabi, Olympiakos’ Portuguese defender Ruben Semedo, Olympiakos’ Senegalese defender Ousseynou Ba and Olympiakos’ Portuguese goalkeeper Jose Sa pose prior to the UEFA Champions League Group C first-leg football match between Olympiakos and Olympique de Marseille on October 21, 2020. (Photo by LOUISA GOULIAMAKI / AFP)

Olympiakos on Monday slammed three of their players who attended an overnight “coronavirus party” at the roof garden of an Athens hotel while Greece is under a strict lockdown due to a spike in COVID-19 cases.

The club named Portuguese defender Ruben Semedo, Serbian midfielder Lazar Randelovic and Brazilian midfielder Bruno Felipe as those who were among the 30 people at the party late on Sunday.

“Olympiakos unequivocally condemns the presence of three of its players at the coronavirus party that took place in the early hours of Monday morning as reported by police,” the Greek champions said in a statement.

“Disregarding the prohibitions and regulations of our team for this season is unacceptable.”

Olympiakos said they have called on the players to apologize and that they will be punished “with the maximum fine.”

All three players as well as those at the party were fined 300 euros ($355) each by police for not wearing protective masks while the 24-year-old owner of the hotel was arrested and fined 3,000 euros.

Media reports initially claimed seven Olympiakos players were at the party, but this was denied by the team.

Local media reported that 40 people were involved in the party, which included a DJ and young women guests, and that many of the participants had locked themselves in the toilets to avoid being found.

Party-goers were informed of the event through social media, reports said.

A neighbor of the hotel on Athens’ busy Syngrou Avenue called police at 2:30 am local time (0030 GMT) to report the illegal gathering.

The Olympiakos players had just returned from a 2-0 away win at OFI on the island of Crete which put them top of the Greek Super League.