By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
After a great game with two overtimes, Greece got the 89-85 win over Spain, however the only matter of discussion is if coach Ilias Papatheodorou slapped 17 years old guard of Panathinaikos Antonis Koniaris, because he made a foul that gave three crucial free throws to the Spaniards.
You can see the video of the incident, however both protagonists deny that something like this happened via a Greek federation’s press release. Coach Papatheodorou states: “After some videos going viral in which I allegedly hit my an athlete of the team, I have to clarify that this is something I would never do, specially to a 18 years old kid. I just waived my hand because I was upset, but I have never slapped him, even if the camera angle may fool someone into thinking that I did. My witness is the athlete”.
And Koniaris adds: “I have to clarify that I have never been slapped. Coach spoke vividly to me, but he never hit me. That’s the reality of the incident. We expect from the Greeks to support us after a very important win and not discuss about things that never happened”.
UPDATE: Panathinaikos reacted to the incident after 24 hours and stated that “the hit from the coach to the 17 years old athlete Antonis Koniaris is beyond doubt despite the manupulations of the coach and his close environment…as Panathinaikos we are not accepting those kind of behavior towards anyone”.