Olympiakos gifted another title

(CNN) -- Olympiakos fans this week found themselves in the unusual position of being able to celebrate winning the Greek league twice as the Piraeus club claimed its fourth straight title, its 11th in 12 years and its 36th overall.

While those statistics may be impressive, the nature of the club's latest triumph was less so. Olympiakos ended their season on Sunday with a 3-1 win over Iraklis, with young striker Costas Mitroglou grabbing two goals, to finish two points clear of AEK Athens.

But the title was only really sealed a day later when a panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, ruled out an appeal by another club, last-placed Apollon Kalamarias, which, had it been successful, would have cost Olympiakos three points and handed the title to AEK.

The appeal related to a match in February which Kalamarias won 1-0, only for the result to be overturned and Olympiakos handed a "technical win" after it emerged their opponents had fielded an ineligible player.

The case has infuriated AEK, who out-played Olympiakos in a 4-0 win just last month, with the club's star Brazilian Rivaldo, a one-time Olympiakos player, threatening to leave Greece unless the final standings were overturned.

"If we are not avenged, I will ask to leave," the former World Cup winner said. "I will probably return to Brazil to end my career. Football needs to be decided on the pitch, and Olympiakos were not good enough to be champions."

AEK, who must now take part in end of season playoffs to determine whether they advance to the Champions League qualifiers, may well feel they are the victims of a sporting injustice, but that is unlikely to be any source of guilt to Olympiakos, who now have the chance to clinch a domestic double for the third time in four seasons when they face Aris in next month's cup final.

"I want to dedicate this victory to the fans, who have helped us a lot, to the players who have gone through some hard times, and to the club's administration for putting their trust in me," said Jose Segura, the Spanish coach who took charge following Takis Lemonis' dismissal in March.

"The Olympiakos players are great professionals. Our next goal is to win the Greek Cup."

"This is the sweetest and -- at the same time -- the toughest league we have won in recent years. In the final stretch we were more durable than our rivals," said the club's Greek international defender, Christos Patsatzoglou.

While domestic dominance may satisfy the fans for now, the real measure of Olympiakos' ambitions these days is the Champions League, as Lemonis' sacking straight after the club's elimination by Chelsea in the first knockout round suggested.

With a strong squad built around a solid core of Greek internationals as well as the Serbian duo of Darko Kovacevic and veteran captain Predrag Djordjevic, a perennial presence in all 11 recent championship-winning title sides, and the exciting Argentine talent Luciano Galletti, Olympiakos have proved a match for most opponents this season, beating Lazio and Werder Bremen and drawing with Real Madrid.

But the club hierarchy will also have noticed Fenerbahce's progress to the last eight of this season's tournament and determined that they too can do better. Having qualified for the Champions League in each of the last 10 seasons and only twice reached the knockout stages, it is time the Erythrolefki made their presence felt in continental competition. E-mail to a friend