The venue – 20th EFDN Conference

The venue – 20th EFDN Conference

The European Football for Development Network (EFDN) will host its 20th EFDN Conference from the 13th until the 15th of November 2023 in Athens, Greece. The topic of this EFDN Conference will be “#Making Football Matter“, which will take place at the OPAP Arena, the stadium of EFDN Member AEK Athens.

OPAP Arena

·      Built: 2022

·      Club: AEK Athens F.C.

·      Capacity: 32.500

Established in Nea Filadelfeia, in 1924, AEK is one of the three most successful teams in Greek football, winning 32 national titles and the only one to have won all the competitions organised by the Hellenic Football Federation 

  • 16 Greek Cups
  • 1 League Cup
  • 2 Super Cups
  • 13 Championships

The founders of AEK – a group of Constantinopolitan refugees met at the athletic shop “Lux” of Emilios Ionas and Konstantinos Dimopoulos on Veranzerou Street, in the centre of Athens, and created AEK. Their intention was to create a club that provided athletic and cultural diversions for the thousands of predominantly Constantinopolitan and Anatolian refugees who had settled in the new suburbs of Athens

The Foundation

AEK Athens FC, guided by the history of the team and its responsibility to the fans and society, has planned and developed a critical Social Responsibility program. This program includes multifaceted targeted actions intended to contribute substantially to the protection of the environment, education, culture and society as a whole. AEK fans are the initiators, the loyal supporters and contributors to their effort. They are enthusiastically involved in each action of the program together with the valuable help of the AEK Athens sponsors.

As one of the leading Greek football clubs, AEK Athens uses the power of sport to motivate, educate and inspire. The club believes that the power of football can be harnessed to support communities and individuals at home and abroad.

AEK Athens works on a broad range of initiatives focusing on employment, education, social deprivation, crime reduction, youth offending and much more.