Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 16-06-07

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Olympic Indoor Sports Hall to be named "Nikos Galis", PM announces

[01] Olympic Indoor Sports Hall to be named "Nikos Galis", PM announces

Tsipras said the state had decided to honor the athlete in this way "in exchange for the great and happy moments we have enjoyed all these years as a country and society from a Greek sports legend." Galis' most important contribution was that "he made us love this game" and made Greeks feel proud and happy, Tsipras added.

On his part, Galis called it a great honour and thanked that prime minister, the deputy sports minister and the state for the recognition of his and his fellow athletes' contribution to Greek basketball.

"There is no greater honour for an athlete than for his name to continue after his career or even after his life," he said. "Together with the other boys - basket is a team sport - we gave our utmost to Greek sports and society and the greatest satisfaction that I ever got from all this, the greatest reward, was that we made the Greek people feel proud," he added.

In a tweet on his personal account, Tsipras called Galis "an athlete that left an indelible stamp on Greek sports" and ushered in an era of great distinctions, as well as leading generations of younger Greeks to sports.

During the meeting, the prime minister noted that Galis' legacy was continuing, with Greece continuing to produce some great athletes and Kontonis noting that two Greeks were coaching foreign teams in this year's final four.

The meeting between Galis and the prime minister was also attended by the veteran basketball player's daughter and Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis.

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