Greek brothel owner sponsors soccer team, league not pleased

When an amateur soccer team in Larissa, Greece needed sponsors for this season, only one local business owner stepped up. Soula Alevridou donated $1,300 to sponsor the team, allowing it to buy uniforms and equipment and to pay rental fees for fields.

As The New York Times reports, some in the city of 200,000 weren't happy with the arrangement due to the nature of Alevridou's business: She's a former prostitute who owns two luxury brothels.

It's a double-whammy for the Greek community. They're used to handouts coming from the government, not a small-business owner, and especially a small-business owner who dabbles in the flesh trade.

The mayor won't talk about it. The league informed the team that the name of Madam Soula's brothels are not to appear on any team equipment. Their resistance comes with no additional suggestions for sponsors or bailout offers.

"Do they have anyone else to give them the money?" Alevridou asked the newspaper.

The team, Voukefalas, had been sponsored by the travel agency of 29-year-old team president and backup goalie Ioannis Batziolas. When they couldn't afford the sponsor, the team searched for a business that would. Madam Soula did.

"She has a character that does not compare to her job," Batziolas said.

As a team member points out in the piece, the league frowning on a brothel sponsorship is hypocritical. He notes that the professional soccer league in Greece is sponsored by a government-sponsored gambling company. Other sports worldwide are funded by advertising money from beer and alcohol companies.

There are similar stories like this in the United States. Recently, a California Little League turned down a $1,200 donation from a strip club, saying they wanted to keep baseball clean. That refusal was more understandable, given the ages of the players on the sponsored teams.

For a cash-strapped amateur soccer team, and if it's a matter of taking children to soccer games and not exposing them to the names of Madam Soula's brothels, is that worse than not taking a child to a soccer game at all?