By Antonis Stroggylakis/ info@eurohoops.net
Greek Deputy Minister of Sports Giorgos Vasileiadis commented on the 12-month ban that EuroLeague Basketball imposed on Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos following the controversial Instagram posts made by the latter.
“I am in favor of sanctions when there are deviations. I can’t comment on it negatively but it was harsher than the incident. Sometimes, other things might be hidden behind the decisions. It (the sanction by EuroLeague) is obviously much harsher than the offense he made,” Vasileiadis said in an interview with Greek Sport 24 radio.
EuroLeague sanctioned the owner of Panathinaikos with the aforementioned penalty after he made a series of Instagram posts that included obscene language directed against Turkish fans that “cursed and threatened” Giannakopoulos’ family, per a statement he released.
Giannakopoulos initially decided to ask Panathinaikos fans to choose via a referendum whether they want the club to continue participating in EuroLeague, but later canceled the voting. However, he did leave the exit door potentially open for after the completion of the 2017-2018 season.
Vasileiadis also talked about the conflict between EuroLeague and FIBA. “The dispute will have dramatic consequences on basketball. You see that most European players cross the Atlantic (to play in the USA) but also go to China. Their dispute will be catastrophic.”