EPO sacks Markarian and Karagounis, places Tsanas as caretaker
The Hellenic Football Federation (EPO) confirmed on Friday the departure of national team manager Sergio Markarian, his assistants Roland Marcenaro and Nikos Costenoglou, as well as national team director Giorgos Karagounis, in a decision sweeping across the national team set-up after the elimination of the Euro 2004 champion from the Euro 2016 finals in France.
EPO also announced that Under-21 coach Costas Tsanas is taking over at the men’s team until further notice, as Greece will still have to play four games in the Euro 2016 qualifiers, starting on September 4 against Finland in Greece.
At the same time the federation is beginning the search for a permanent appointment with a view to the finals of the World Cup of 2018.
While the departures of Markarian, Marcenaro and Costenoglou are taking place by mutual consent, according to EPO, the departure of Karagounis is done by the federation terminating his contract for “a significant reason” that is not specified.
The decisions follow the EPO board meeting that took place on Friday, and also include the plan to seek the return of some of the severance pay given to former Greece manager Claudio Ranieri on the grounds that the Italian is now employed by a club (Leicester City).
