Nikos Sevastopoulos, former AEK Athens footballer, dies at 81

Former AEK Athens footballer Nikos Sevastopoulos has passed away at the age of 81. He died in the early hours of Friday morning while receiving treatment at Attikon Hospital.

Born in Tavros in 1945, Sevastopoulos was a prominent figure for AEK during the 1960s, earning the nickname ‘Pele’ due to his exceptional talent. After winning the Panhellenic Championship with AEK’s youth team in 1963, he made his senior debut later that year.

His career included a period in South Africa playing for Hellenic in Cape Town, where he notably played against Real Madrid in a friendly match. He returned to AEK in 1968 under coach Branko Stanković, contributing to the club’s historic European campaign that reached the quarter-finals of the European Cup.