By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
The season started and that’s reason enough for a new episode in the ongoing war between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. You may remember that the president of the Greens, Dimitris Giannakopoulos was punished last season for threatening referees. That was not the end of it, as the committee of sportsmanship – a government committee which monitors and punish unsportsmanlike behavior in Greece – punished him for the same incident with six months banishment from entering any gym, however he will be “on parole” for the next three years and he will not “serve” his penalty.
On Monday, Olympiacos hosted Panathinaikos in an empty court due to the incidents of last season’s final and a day after the game a video of Olympiacos’ president Panagiotis Aggelopoulos was published in Giannakopoulos owned media which was showing Aggelopoulos making indecent gestures during the game.
That’s why Panathinaikos is asking officially via a press release the punishment of Olympiacos’ president, accusing the sports authorities for a double standard: “To our great disappointment we note that 48 hours after the publishing of the video to all Greek fans which shows the owner of Olympiacos BC – in one of his team’s rare wins – making an indecent gesture to our team, none of the pertinent sports authorities, who have been incredible fast and ready to act against us, have not taken any appropriate action for that matter.
Obviously is normal to punish the president of Panathinaikos BC, because someone thought that heard him without having any visual contact with him as they admitted, but the president of Olympiacos can make gesture without any consequence. If that’s not a double standard, then we are really confused and we live in an other planet. Of course the non action of the athletic judge, HEBA and the committee of sportsmanship are creating question for the equality and fairness of the law. We ask from every pertinent official to act pedagogically towards the owner of Olympiacos who behaved like a common hooligan. On the same time, the fans who now have doubts will be persuaded that everyone is equal before the law”.
UPDATE: Olympiacos issued a press release accusing the Greens for trying to make something out of nothing, while Panathinaikos replay with a new press release saying that “an indicent gesture is not nothing”.
UPDATE (2): On the 24th of October the athletic judge of HEBA decided that Olympiacos’ owner should not be prosecuted.