Βy Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Despite the recent report of “El Mundo”, according to which both Mike James and KC Rivers could face charges for passport fraud, the situation according to the side of the players is totally different.
The reason that both members of Panathinaikos were held in the airport of Barcelona on the 1st of December, was to give their testimony on the case, in which an Argentinian lawyer who allegedly acted as a false consul of Guinea-Bissau in Madrid, is probably going to be the main defendant.
He is expected to be accused of falsifying official documents, as in both cases the players were approached in order to get “cotonou” passports and also the right to compete as communitarians and not as “foreigners” in the Spanish Liga Endesa.
The investigation of the Spanish authorities continues, however both players of Panathinaikos don’t have any other involvement in the case than to be possible witnesses.
The “cotonou” agreement is a treaty between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States and in Spain the trade cooperation includes also the working rights of professional athletes.