Top Greek footballers help refugees in port city of Piraeus

Some people call the Greek port city of Piraeus “New Idomeni.” It hosts more than 6,000 refugees, many in need of food, clothes and moral support. Conditions here are tough in the cold. Top football players from Greek champions Olympiacos FC have been visiting the city to boost the refugees’ spirits, and according to one of the players, the team’s image.

“The situation is terrible,” said football player Esteban Cambiasso. “I think it’s a very delicate situation and luckily there are people willing to help, which is the case of the club’s president. For sure there are also many more people that help so these people’s reality won’t be so bad.”

“Olympiacos is a great club with a big heart and I take my hat off to the president, because it helps everybody no matter where they come from,” said Arthur Masuaku. “It’s a great pleasure for us to be part of these actions and honestly this is very good for the club and it’s image.”

Some of players had a kick about with young refugees from Syria. They were particularly impressed with one boy’s football skills. Olympiacos players have been helping here for about a month. The players have distributed tens of thousands of meals over the last month, as well as a lot of gifts.

Euronews correspondent Ioannis Karagiorgas reported from Piraeus. “From the moment that refugees started coming to the port of Piraeus, the city’s football team, Olympiacos FC was supporting them. Greek Champions have offered 500-thousand portions of food, clothing and footballs to the children. They say they will be there as long as they’re needed,” said Karagiorgas.