By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
In the EuroLeague Round 31, Panathinaikos got the upper hand by beating Barcelona 89-81 at home. Alex Abrines had harsh words in the aftermath, pointing fingers at the referees.
“We have been second almost the entire season but they have no respect for us. The game changes when [Ergin] Ataman is whistled for a technical. They start to inflate us, the refereeing criteria change and instead of punishing them, they punish us. It wasn’t just today, it’s happening every week and something has to change”, the Spanish forward first said to Mundo Deportivo.
He pointed out the criteria for calls towards newly arrived Ricky Rubio. “Today they haven’t had any respect for a guy like Ricky Rubio, I’m not talking about an eighteen-year-old guy who comes up from Barça B. They haven’t even called him for a foul and they do at the slightest contact”, he added.
“I don’t know why this happens, I want to think that there is no campaign against Barcelona. But there is something, because we lived this throughout the season and it’s fine. We have made mistakes and being with more than twelve we cannot let this advantage slip away, some things happen during the game that we are already fed up with, they don’t let us compete. I think it’s unfair”, Alex Abrines said.
The 30-year-old experienced forward sent a final appeal. “Something has to change, it can’t be that the referees are making so many mistakes, then go home, nothing has happened, and wash their hands. And next week they will call another game and continue to getting paid”, he finally concluded.
PHOTO CREDIT: Turkish Airlines EuroLeague