By Nikos Varlas
There is always a certain history in the European basketball derbies. In Spain the games between Real Madrid and Barcelona are always exciting and have global appeal. In Serbia, the games of Partizan against Red Star are also instant classics, specially between the fans of the two teams, and in Turkey the duo Fenerbahce – Galatasaray is always a cause of arguments.
But the matches that last longer, long before the start and after the finish of the games, are the ones in Greece between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos! The Cup final ended in the court last Saturday, but it still continues in the talk between fans and above all team owners.
Last Friday, a day before the Greek Cup final, Panathinaikos and Olympiacos issued a joint press release, asking from their fans to behave them selves in the game. Just before the jump ball Thanasis Giannakopoulos and Panagiotis Aggelopoulos, the two owners, took the mic and asked again from the fans to avoid extremities.
In a matter of seconds after that, a five minute “war” started with flares ricocheting from the one side to the other. Panathinaikos won the 13th Cup of his history and on Sunday Olympiacos issued a new press release. This time it was ironic against the referees, the Greek basketball federation and Panathinaikos coach Zeliko Obradovic. “The darkest night is right before the dawn”, was the last sentence.
Just hours latter, Thanasis Giannakopoulos answered: «They just want to find an alibi, the jokes must be stopped”. Two weeks earlier in the security meeting for the final, the owner of Panathinaikos had said in a moment of rage that he must be respected because he “fornicated Europe six times”, referring to the six Euroleague titles won by his team.
In late night Monday, Olympiacos answered again! “We urge mister Giannakopoulos to see again the 6 last minutes of the final and then we will speak again”. It’s a Greek vicious circle that never ends. A never ending story that confirms one fact: Sports are the mirror of the social state of a country. And wait until the Greek playoffs final starts…