Seafaring career He completed his maritime studies at Southampton before embarking on a seafaring career. He managed to be promoted to the rank of captain and then along with his brothers found the family ship and oil business.
Rhodesian sanction busting Yiorgos Vardinoyannis was captain of the
oil tanker MV
Arietta Venezelos which in February 1966 was located in the
Persian Gulf. The Greek government, reacting to concerns that oil it was taking on board was destined for
Rhodesia gave instructions to the owners,
Venizelos SA to divert the ship to
Rotterdam rather than South Africa and forbade the delivery of oil to Rhodesia. However, Vardinogiannis continued to sail for
Beira in Mozambique, then a colony of Portugal. Here the pipeline would allow oil to be pumped to landlocked Rhodesia.
Football On 17 July 1979, Vardinogiannis family acquired the majority stake of Greek football club
Panathinaikos and Yiorgos Vardinogiannis was appointed
president of Panathinaikos. He served in this position for 21 years (1979–2000) and had the nicknames
Kapetanios (Captain) and
Ringo. The latter nickname was given to him due to his habit of carrying a gun. During his reign as club president, Panathinaikos won six Greek championships (1983-84, 1985-86, 1989-90, 1990-91, 1994-95, 1995-96) and nine greek cups (1981-82, 1983-84, 1985-86, 1987-88, 1988-89, 1990-91, 1992-93, 1993-94, 1994-95). ==References==