Giorgos Katidis - The Star Midfielder That Never Was

Giorgos Katidis - The Star Midfielder That Never Was

Giorgos Katidis was born on the 12th of February, 1993 in Thessaloniki and rapidly rose through the Academy ranks at local club Aris. He made his first team debut at the age of 17 and by then the talented attacking midfielder with an eye for goal was already making himself known to Greek football fans. Katidis dominated the youth ranks at international level and was the captain for the Ethniki U19 team at a highly successful Euro U19 tournament in 2012 held in Estonia.

His stunning form in the Group Stage helped propel Greece deep into the tournament. Greece fell 1-2 at the hands of Spain in the opening match, but bounced back in some style to defeat Estonia 4-1 and Portugal 3-2. Katidis scored one goal against Estonia and followed it up by scoring a vital brace in the do-or-die game against the Portuguese (this took the Ethniki into 2nd spot in the group ahead of their opponents). The team then dramatically beat England in extra time to make the final. Katidis was an ever-present in this side with the captain's arm band and the team fought hard but ultimately fell agonisingly short. Jese, who currently plays for Sporting Lisbon (on loan from PSG), scored the only goal in the 80th minute for Spain to win 1-0.

Nevertheless, it was a successful tournament for the Ethniki U19 team. Many of these players have gone on to forge respectable careers - Kostas Stafylidis, Stefanos Kapino, Sokratis Dioudis, Dimitris Diamantakos, Giannis Gianniotas, Dimitris Kourbelis, Charalampos Mavris, Charis Lykogiannis, Andreas Bouchalakis and Tasos Bakasetas are just some of the names in the squad. Katidis was just as gifted and also appeared to possess leadership qualities. Some would have even said 'a natural fit to replace Giorgos Karagounis'.

Katidis' career was on an upward trajector​y and Athenian giants AEK signed the midfielder in August 2012 on a 4 year deal for a transfer fee of 100,000 EUR. The Enosi were struggling at the time but it was a good opportunity for young Katidis to showcase his skills. He would then go on and undo years of hard work by one moment of madness.

His life however, and it is not over-dramatic to state this, would change forever. After scoring the winner for AEK in a league game against Veria, Katidis inexplicably whipped out the Roman/Nazi/Fascist salute. Horrifying yet also bemusing those in attendance and watching on TV.

Those who know the political situation in Greece, know there is a heavy slant to the left on almost all issues. This is not merely referring to who is in Parliament or who is the Greek Prime Minister at any particular stage. Most facets of society in Greece lean to the left. You can even proudly claim to be a “leftist” or even a “communist”, without as much as a murmur.

If you know anything about political movements, far-leftism and far-rightism are 2 sides of the same  coin, with one not being better than the other, both are cancers. At the time of Katidis’ action, in Greece, there was also a significant extreme-right movement gaining traction in the country. Sadly for Katidis, he got lumped in with all that was happening at that moment in time.

The EPO’s reaction to the whole episode mirrored the stupidity and immaturity that prevails in Greece, concerning politics. They decided to ban the player from all national team action for life. Let us remember that Giorgos Katidis was an Ethniki U17, U19 and U21 captain, w​ith a bright future ahead, all that as we all know now, has been washed away, his career has turned into nothing. Greek football and the National Team, might have been robbed of a great talent.

Some might say that he deserved it after what he did and that the punishment fit the crime, some might say it was totally over the top. Looking at it now after 7 years, you could even be of the opinion that the stance taken by EPO was too heavy handed.

The hypocrisy concerning all this, is that several players employed by Greek clubs over the years and those who have even represented Greece, have made numerous political statements, made ultra-nationalistic gestures, or have even pledged allegiances to fringe extremist even terrorist groups in the past. With nowhere near the same outrage, scrutiny or reaction.

It goes without saying obviously, that this gesture displayed by Katidis was wrong, it has no place on a football field and he indeed should have been sanctioned, but a life ban from all National Team activity and being ostracised from the sport in Greece, may have been over the top.

It is also worth taking into account Katidis' past, which by all reports, appeared to be a very rough upbringing. He claimed he did not know what the salute was and AEK coach at the time Ewald Lienen echoed his thoughts. The German stated that Katidis "has no idea about politics, so we should not condemn him". Ironically, Lienen was known to be a very politically active footballer and ran for elections in his native country in the 1980's for a left wing party. He also saw Katidis on a daily basis and one would assume a manager knows his players well, so his comments are relatively reasonable.

This harsh decision by the EPO seriously derailed a promising career. From a player who had the world at his feet in his early 20's, Katidis is without a club at the age of 27. He is supposed to be at his peak...

Italian club Novara lured K​atidis across the Ioanian Sea to the Serie B but he only lasted for one season. One can only imagine the mental impact it would have on a young player being told he can never represent his country again. From here, he bounced around numerous clubs in Europe and forged the reputation of being a 'journeyman' despite his age. He returned to Greece a year later to sign for Veria a year later and made his debut for the club against Olympiacos. However, he did not impress and barely featured. Levadiakos was the next stop in his career in 2015. He signed a 2.5 year deal but only lasted for 1 year.

After failing to impress in Greece's top flight, he opted to take the step down to the lower leagues with Panegialios, but again his stay was short lived. In January 2017 he decided to move abroad to Finland to sign with FF Jaro (in the second tier), where he did relatively well for a short period of time. He made 15 appearances, scoring 7 goals and notching 4 assists but left as the club failed secure promotion. As a result, the next stage in his career was FK Olympia Prague (again in the lower leagues) in the Czech Republic in the summer of 2017. He scored the odd goal and appeared to do well. This prompted Czech top flight club FK Pribram to take a chance on the midfielder. He signed a 2 year deal in the summer of 2018 but sporadically featured. Consequently, he was released in the summer of 2019 and has remained without a club ever since.

Eight years ago, the sky was the limit for Katidis but at 27 the dream appears to be all but over. His career took a turn for the worse after the controversial incident in 2013. Only he knows the psychological effect this had on him. What could have been... 

Hellas Football

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