By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
As Eurohoops had reported last week, Euroleague’s judge opened a case against Panathinaikos and its owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos because of all that have been said after the end of the 1st play offs game against Barcelona.
Just hours before the tip of of the 3rd game, the decision was taken and it’s a record 150.000 euros fine “for public statements made after the Turkish Airlines Euroleague Playoffs Game 1 against F.C. Barcelona Regal on Tuesday, April 9. The infractions concerned the public statements made by Mr. Dimitris Giannakopoulos after the abovementioned game alleging a lack of impartiality on the part of the Euroleague Basketball organization, comments that were reproduced in several international media outlets, damaging the image of the competition”.
There is one more interesting part in the official press release: “The judge stated that if such infractions are repeated in the future, he will seriously consider the possibility of imposing sanctions other than fines, such as permanent or temporary disqualification from the competition”.
The same warning was used in the press release for the previous record fine by Euroleague to Panathinaikos, which was 100.000 euros due to the behavior of its fans during the Istanbul’s Final Four.