Olympiacos Piraeus was crowned Greek League champion for a second straight season after Game 4 of the Finals against Panathinaikos Athens was terminated early amid some eventful incidents that took place in the OAKA arena.
Following an initial interruption that lasted for approximately an hour, the officials ruled that the game can’t resume as the Reds, that were up 2-1 in the best-of-five series, were declared winners.
With 12:46 minutes to play and Olympiacos up 35 – 63, fans began hurling various objects, including smoke bombs and flares, at the bench of Olympiacos and onto the protective net above the players and coaches.
The referees called for the interruption of the game as Olympiacos personnel headed to the team’s locker room.
Panathinaikos players stayed on the court but the atmosphere was too foggy for the game to begin again. Shortly afterward, the referees ordered the evacuation of the arena as a safety precaution for the match to continue.
While the bulk of Panathinaikos fans immediately began heading to the exit doors of OAKA, some hooligans stayed, destroying seats and throwing them all over the place while emptying fire extinguishers.
Things got out of hands at OAKA pic.twitter.com/0YgRDnEl2p
— Eurohoops (@Eurohoopsnet) June 15, 2023
According to several reports, equipment (computers, monitors) from the officials’ table was also stolen and destroyed.
Amid all this chaos, it was decided that the game can’t continue and it was forfeited in favor of Olympiacos.
Panathinaikos is expected to be punished for next season with four games behind close doors, plus -2 points in the standings.
Before the game’s interruption, Olympiacos was dominating, with Alec Peters and Sasha Vezenkov having 11 points apiece. Lefteris Mantzoukas had six points for Panathinaikos.