Yiorgos Vardinogiannis is a Greek shipowner and businessman, former owner and president of the Panathinaikos football club. He was born in Episkopi, Rethymno

Rethymno Prefecture

Rethymno is one of the four regional units of Crete, Greece. Its capital is the city of Rethymno. Today its main income is tourism. The countryside is also based economically on agriculture and herding.-Administration:...

 in 1936. He is the brother of Vardis Vardinogiannis

Vardis Vardinogiannis

Vardis Vardinoyannis is a Greek oil tycoon. Born in 1933 in Episkopi, Rethymno, he is the chairman and controlling shareholder of Motor Oil Hellas and Vegas Oil and Gas. He is the brother of Yiorgos Vardinogiannis, husband of Marianna Vardinoyannis and father of Giannis Vardinogiannis.-References:...

.

Career

Yiorgos Vardinoyannis was the captain of the merchant ship "Ioanna V" which, in 1966, broke the UN-imposed and British-enforced embargo on the regime of Rhodesia

Rhodesia

Rhodesia , officially the Republic of Rhodesia from 1970, was an unrecognised state located in southern Africa that existed between 1965 and 1979 following its Unilateral Declaration of Independence from the United Kingdom on 11 November 1965...

 and brought in oil to the Portuguese Mozambique

Mozambique

Mozambique, officially the Republic of Mozambique , is a country in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west and Swaziland and South Africa to the southwest...

 port of Beira

Beira, Mozambique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. Beira had a population of 412,588 in 1997, which grew to an estimated 546,000 in 2006...

, which was connected with landlocked Rhodesia by a pipeline.
Was president of Panathinaikos FC

Panathinaikos FC

Panathinaikos Football Club is a Greek professional football club based in Athens. Founded in 1908, they play in the Super League Greece and are one of the oldest and most successful clubs in Greek football history. They have won 20 Greek Championships and 17 Greek Cups.Panathinaikos is the most...

for 21 years (1979–2000)