The Euroleague sanctioned with 100.000 euros a Dimitris Giannakopoulosowner of the Panathinaikos, for its threats and derogatory comments after the fourth game of the Playoff (the Anadolu Efes forced the fifth after winning 85-82), but the Union of Basketball Referees of the Euroleague (EUBO) has issued a statement in which, without giving names, he complains about how “the owner of a club published on social networks repeated attacks against the referees”, something that “has disturbed the process of nomination of referees” and “has harmed the members of this association.” In addition, they consider the “insufficient” fine.
“We are proud of our referees, selected for the playoffs and who acted, under enormous pressure, with impartiality and professionalism,” says the statement that condemns “the repeated attacks against the referees” and “the threats received”, “referring to the league as ‘a mafia’ and dropping that to see if they dared to assign them again. “” In some cities, Police escorts are now routine. Should we expect something worse to Take Real measures? ”Asks the Association of Referees.
The technicians who led that fourth game were the Spaniards Miguel Ángel Pérez and Juan Carlos García and the Lithuanian Arturas Sukys. In the fifth and decisive encounter, which took the Panathinaikos in the Oaka by 75-67, again there was a Spanish presence (Carlos Peruga and Emilio Pérez) with the German referee Robert Lottermoser.
The EU explains that they have decided to be expected to finish the playoff to give an answer for “respect for the competition and the attention given to the matches”, but that once the qualifiers were finished, they wanted to endorse “full confidence in professionalism, impartiality and independence of the referees “while denying” categorically the accusations against their members “and ask that Take measures to prevent the referees from being pressed or intimidated. “
It is not the first time that Giannakopoulos uses its social networks to load against arbitration. In these same playoffs, the owner of the Panathinaikos too He questioned arbitration of the series between the Olympiacoshis great enemy, and Real Madrid. “I don’t know how a club like Madrid can accept that they treat him like this. Look at the statistics, until The idiots can understand”.
The Euroleague has sanctioned him on multiple occasions, including a fine of 150,000 euros for entering the costumes of the referees and trying to assault them in 2015 or another for threatening Vassilis Spanoulisthen Olympiacos player, with kill his family. He also prohibited him from going to the pavilions for one year, another sanction that jumped several times and for which he had to pay more than half a million in fines.
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