When Syriza first took power in Greece in January 2015, it vowed to ‘crush’ the Greek oligarchy. Yet under Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, the oligarchy has arguably strengthened its grip on Greek media. In particular, wealthy Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis, who also happens to own Greek football club Olympiacos, recently acquired the media empire of the Lambrakis Group. Now, Marinakis faces criminal charges in connection with the alleged fixing of Olympiacos football matches.
In this interview, I discuss with Professor Michael Spourladakis, Dean of the School of Economics and Politics at the University of Athens, Syriza’s failure to reign in the oligarchy. My interview of Professor Spourladakis can be seen here: