By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu talked about the possibility of Panathinaikos Athens leaving the competition. Reports about Panathinaikos’ potential departure from EuroLeague have emerged by media owned by the club’s boss Dimitris Giannakopoulos.
“It’s not the first time we hear it,” Bertomeu said in an interview with El Pais. “With Panathinaikos, the best thing to do is to have patience, the capacity to make dialogue with them and make them see. But Panathinaikos also knows that they don’t have a better scenario outside the EuroLeague, but a much worse scenario. It’s a no-brainer for anyone who understands this. And despite the fact that at some points they made an announcement of this type, it has never happened. And if it happens, if they leave, another team will come. A few years ago we had Benetton Treviso, Montepaschi Siena…”
Partizan Belgrade and Virtus Bologna are two clubs that petitioned to join next season’s EuroLeague. Bologna CEO Luca Baraldi has mentioned that his team has applied to be in consideration for participation if any of the current 18 clubs exits the competition.
During Monday’s remote meeting of the ECA shareholders, it was reported that Giannakopoulos raised some questions regarding the revenues of the next season. Bertomeu later confirmed that the owner of Panathinaikos expressed “concerns” about the economic impact the cancelation will have on the clubs.
Panathinaikos was the only representative of the 11 A-license teams that ultimately disagreed with to the season being canceled. The club asked for its disagreement to be recorded in regards to “the cancelation without knowing about next season’s revenues”. The Greens are the most decorated team in the modern EuroLeague, having won five titles this century out of their six overall.
Giannakopoulos will hold a press conference on June 3 regarding the financial effect of the cancelation to the club and the organization’s future in EuroLeague and the Greek League.