page_title: AEK Athens F.C.
section_title: 2007–08 Championship controversy
hierarchical_section_title: AEK Athens F.C. / History / 21st century / 2007–08 Championship controversy
caption_attribution_description: Português: Rivaldo, ex-futebolista brasileiro.English: Former Brazilian footballer Rivaldo.
context_page_description: AEK Football Club, also known in European competitions as AEK Athens FC, is a Greek professional football club based in Nea Filadelfeia, a suburb of Athens, Greece.
  Established in Athens in 1924 by Greek refugees from Constantinople in the wake of the Greco-Turkish War, AEK has become one of the three most popular clubs
  in Greece and the Greek diaspora and 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
context_section_description: For the 2007–08 season AEK changed kit sponsors from Adidas to Puma. They played with Sevilla FC in the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round. The first leg was played on 15 August, away at the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, where AEK was defeated by 2 goals, and the second leg played on 3 September, at the Athens Olympic Stadium where AEK lost again by 1–4.
  AEK completed the signings of Brazilian legend Rivaldo, after he was let free from Olympiacos, Rodolfo Arruabarrena, Charis Pappas, and Argentine striker Ismael Blanco. Traianos Dellas was rewarded with a new contract, keeping him at the club until summer 2009. On 25 August, the Super League and EPO decided to postpone the opening season's games due to the fire disaster in the Peloponnese.
  After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League, AEK were drawn to play against FC Salzburg for the UEFA Cup. On 20 September, in Athens, AEK defeated FC Salzburg 3–0. In the second leg, played in Salzburg on 4 October, AEK lost the match but still went through 3–1 on aggregate. On 9 October, AEK were drawn in Group C in the UEFA Cup group stage along with Villarreal, Fiorentina, Mladá Boleslav, and Elfsborg. On 25 October, AEK kicked off the group stage with a 1–1 draw away to Elfsborg. On 29 November, AEK again drew 1–1, this time at home to Fiorentina. On 5 December, AEK won Mladá Boleslav 1–0 away and on 20 December, AEK was home defeated 1–2 by Villarreal CF, but finally booked a place in the knockout stage of the UEFA Cup by finishing third in the group. They were then drawn against Getafe CF in the third round (phase of 32). AEK advanced to the third round of UEFA Cup for the second consecutive season.
  On 12 February, AEK parted company with Llorenç Serra Ferrer after a poor run of form and unsuccessful signings and replaced him with former player Nikos Kostenoglou, on a caretaker basis. The team initially finished in first place in the league, but after the court case between Apollon Kalamarias and Olympiacos for the illegal usage of a player in the 1–0 Apollon Kalamarias win earlier in the season, Olympiacos was awarded 3 points, thus finishing 2 points ahead of AEK.
  President Demis Nikolaidis and several other managers and chairmen were angered with the court's decision, stating that the Hellenic Football Federation knew about the usage of the illegal player prior to the game and had indeed issued a registration (blue card), but didn't do anything about it. Panathinaikos also challenged the result at the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) with no success, as the Hellenic Federation did not support the claim. Rivaldo had stated his intention to leave Greece if the ruling went in favour of Olympiacos and AEK were not declared champions. He stated, "a team that was not good enough to win the title on the pitch does not deserve the trophy."
  Giorgos Donis was appointed head coach of AEK on 14 May. His reign at the club did not go well. It all began when AEK failed to surpass AC Omonia in the UEFA Cup second qualifying round, which meant their elimination from European competitions for the season. Rivaldo asked to leave the club to sign for Bunyodkor on 27 August.
  The league campaign started very well after a win over rivals Panathinaikos in the opening game of the season, but poor performances and results from then on left AEK in a difficult situation. Head coach Donis was eager to leave the club, but president Nikolaidis did not allow him to leave. Nevertheless, Nikolaidis left due to disappointing results and after a controversy with the club's supporters, Original 21, leaving the presidency temporarily to the members of the board of directors, Nikos Koulis, and Takis Kanellopoulos.
caption: Rivaldo
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