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Panathinaikos Athletic Club (Greek: Παναθηναϊκός Αθλητικός Όμιλος) was established by George Kalafatis in 1908. At first, Panathinaikos comprised of only one department, the football team. Before it took the name P.A.O., in 1908 it was called P.O.A. (Football Club of Athens), in 1909 it changed to P.P.O. (Panhellenic Football Club), in 1918 to P.P.A.O. (Panhellenic Football and Athletic Club) and finally, in 1924 to the well known name of P.A.O. (Panathenian Athletic Club). As the years went by, Panathinaikos established many others sport departments (21 in total). Some of them are:
- The Classic Athletics department, established in the 30's.
- The Basketball department, established in 1937.
- The basketball section has established itself as a major force on the European stage, winning the continent's top club competition, the Euroleague, three times (1996, 2000, 2002).
- The Swimming (also included Water Polo)department, established in 1950.
- The Volleyball department, established in 1927.
- The Shooting department, established in the early 40's.
- The Table-Tennis department, established in 1935.
- The Boxing department, established in 1948.
- The Fencing department, established in 1960.
- The Wrestling department, established in 1965.
- The Gymnastics department, established in 1965.
- The Water Ski department, established in 1965.
- The Weight Lifting department, established in 1963.
- The Cycling department, established in 1928, and
- The Chess department, established in 1959.
Panathinaikos is the most successful Greek football club in European competitions, having participated once in the European Champions Cup final (1971 at Wembley Stadium, London, lost 2-0 to Ajax Amsterdaam) and having reached twice to the semifinal of the same competition (later renamed Champions League) (1985 against Liverpool, lost 4-0 and 0-1, and 1996 beating Ajax 0-1 in Amsterdaam but losing 0-3 in the second game).
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