By Lefteris Moutis/ moutis@eurohoops.net
Marko Ivkovic was murdered in Istanbul before the game Galatasaray–Crvena Zvezda and Olympiacos wanted to honor his memory by keeping one moment of silence before the game against PAOK. The Reds asked ESAKE and PAOK but both denied.
Olympiacos expressed their condolences for the death of Marko Ivkovic some hours after the incident and asked the Greek league, ESAKE, the permission for one moment of silence before the game against PAOK. ESAKE agreed only if PAOK would also had accepted the proposition. But the visitors denied and threatened to leave the court if that happened! ESAKE had the authority to take the decision on its own but finally turned down Olympiacos’ request.
After the end of the game we asked the front office of PAOK about the reasons of denial. The answer of the team manager, Telis Zournatzidis on Eurohoops was: “They told us about that and requested the one minute silence 15 minutes before the tip off. We couldn’t decide so quickly on such an important issue, which may have even political implications”.