By Eurohoops team / info@eurohoops.net
After Maccabi Tel Aviv managed to escape from Athens with a 1-1 in the EuroLeague Playoffs against 2nd-seeded Panathinaikos, the series has now moved to Belgrade, where the Israeli team will play in the Aleksandar Nikolic Hall.
Following the arrival of yellow-and-blue fans in the Serbian capital – their number is expected to be around 1.000 people -, Panathinaikos‘ president Dimitris Giannakopoulos published a video on his Instagram profile where he criticized such eventuality.
His criticism goes back to the EuroLeague General Assembly held in Istanbul at the end of October 2023. “When there was the voting [to decide] if Maccabi was going to be allowed to take part in this year’s competition, with all happening in the territory there, Maccabi had said and promised that all their games were by held behind closed doors”, Dimitris Giannakopoulos opened.
“And suddenly, I’m reading everywhere there will be 2.000 fans. Hopefully, this is just bu—-it and EuroLeague will do whatever is needed for the game to start and to start under the circumstances that Maccabi promised back in the General Assembly”, Panathinaikos’ president continued.
Dimitris Giannakopoulos, who will be in attendance for today’s Game 3, scheduled at 19:00 CET, finished by referring also to the Russian teams that are currently absent from the competition. “We all voted Maccabi should be part of this league, although CSKA [Moscow] is not. I hope EuroLeague will do what is needed”, he added.
According to Eurohoops sources, the local police in Belgrade have given their permission to get more fans: that has always been the case. EuroLeague and Maccabi Tel Aviv are therefore following the instructions of local authorities.