Panathinaikos president Dimitris Giannakopoulos had a press conference on Tuesday.
The number 1 of the Greek powerhouse spoke about EuroLeague. And he had strong word about the management of EuroLeague Basketball and Jordi Bertomeu.
Below you can find the full statement of Dimitris Giannakopoulos.
EuroLeague
This league, at the exclusive responsibility of Mr Bertomeu, has reached boiling point. And everyone realizes it now. The fact that it’s only “bad” Panathinaikos and “bad” Giannakopoulos shouting about it does not change the reality of the situation. Who else would shout about it?
Teams that live off their State, teams that received loans with no intention or requirement to ever pay them back from state banks, or teams that are satisfied with 2% of their football team’s budget! And then Jordi talks about Financial Fair Play, wagging his finger… It’s a joke…
The EuroLeague is a black box.
The teams do not know how much the money comes from the sponsorships and all its other sources of income, or where it goes. Every year, 15 days before the event begins, they find out how much money they will receive, without knowing where it is from and why that is the amount.
And for those of you who will ask, “Giannakopoulos, did you only just remember about this now”, let me remind you that in 2002 we threatened to not participate in the final because Bertomeu would not tell us the amounts. While since 2009, Pavlos, Thanassis, or Dimitris would at times howl about where the event income goes. Shall I tell you where they are leading this?
Maccabi Tel Aviv, Panathinaikos, and Olympiacos are the three teams that keep the EuroLeague going. Jordi is being a tough guy in his absolute protectorate, saying that he took winning from 10,000 euros to 37,500 euros… Would you like to know where the money for this famous pool comes from? The three teams get 52% of their television contract and the other 48%, close to 10 million, is shared between the teams for winning.
So let’s get to this year. Can it be possible for an organization that consists of the strongest teams in European basketball to have no answers about anything?
How can it be possible for you to be unable to tell the teams what the consequences will be from the season being disrupted? How can it be possible for you to agree with players to be paid 80% of their contract if the season does not continue and 85% if it does?
Who are you and what right do you have to come between two contracting parties, to tell them what will be paid and what will not, and to threaten us that if we do not comply we will face consequences! That’s blatant blackmail…
And all that without having figured out what will happen with the teams’ income? Let’s look at it simply: When an athlete has played for 65% and the teams have lost 50% of their income, and you go and offer the players 80% without them setting foot on the court again, and 85% if they do go play again, you must think the athletes are stupid to risk their physical safety or a potential injury for an additional 5%.
At the most recent General Meeting of the event, I heard the representative of Real Madrid say: “There is no EuroLeague without Panathinaikos”. It is an honor to hear it and completely honest!
If he could just tell Bertomeu, who has proven he does not share that opinion; with his statements and with his actions.
The EuroLeague treats Panathinaikos on all fronts in the worst possible way.
The penalties enforced against us are more than strict; they are devastating. We have reached the point of having OAKA close down on the eve of a game, opposite Fenerbahce no less, displaying complete disrespect towards Panathinaikos as an organization and towards the people who had bought tickets to the match.
In the hunt against Panathinaikos, and in order for the words of someone who had in 2011 threatened us with not getting to the FINAL 4 for another ten years to come true, we saw, all the way to the last round of the regular 2016-2017 season, lots of strange results; to the point where you were all saying that all these results came about so that Panathinaikos would have to face the team that was in the best shape in Europe, who would then become the European champion, Fenerbahce, instead of Efes, who would have been our opponent in the quarter finals if everything hadn’t been turned upside down. If the numbers hadn’t been cooked like never before!
And of course, there were our beloved referees… Panathinaikos was slaughtered countless times, especially when the team was just a step away from the FINAL 4. What should I mention first?
The 2009 final, where the referees just stopped short of scoring for CSKA themselves? The 2012 semi-final, when we thought we were looking at Kalopoulos, Efthymiadis, and Papoutselis on the court at the same time? Barcelona in 2013, when Diamantidis had been loaded with 3 fouls by the 2nd minute?
The monumental series with CSKA, when we were forbidden to break in the first match?
The line of kamikazes with Fenerbahce? A bleeding Calathes in Madrid and the consecutive slaughters two years ago when we were in an open feud with the EuroLeague? There is no team that has faced so many instances of injustice, so many slaughters, because it decided to go against the current and claim what was rightfully theirs.
That paid such a heavy price for its decision to be brave against the whole system.
So, they think they can blackmail us? They think they can keep from Panathinaikos what it deserves?
It is our shared obligation to show that Panathinaikos cannot be blackmailed. To continue to hold high the values of Panathinaikos no matter the cost. Especially in an event that continuously belittles its product.
It belittles and does not respect the people who have given hundreds of millions of euros so the EuroLeague can exist; so that Jordi can wag his finger wherever and whenever he feels like it…
An event that has in 20 years completely failed in capitalizing on its product.
Basketball Champions League vs. EuroLeague
An event that informs its teams of how much money they will receive every year in September, doing away with any effort for serious budgeting… An event that is the definition of a failure on every level…The EuroLeague has at last found a competitor, and, in fact, in the face of a body that has proven its love for basketball. A body that is basketball itself: FIBA’s Champions League is the event that is coming and is about to erase the EuroLeague from the map.
Two years ago, when we were having the first discussions about this, we realized that it was not ready yet; now it is, and everyone knows it.
With FIBA’s seriousness, its careful moves, and the acceptance and participation of all the major teams in the event; more and more teams… Even if EuroLeague was the paradise Bertomeu dreams of, I would personally make the decision to go to the Champions League to prove once again that Panathinaikos will never be blackmailed by anyone!
The past and the History of Panathinaikos, and that of Pavlos above all else, has taught us that very often the difficult decisions change History…
The best proof is when we did not come down to SEF in 1993, in order to get rid of Ioannidis’ match fixing ring… And we got rid of it.
For me, there would be no alternative to this decision. But because Panathinaikos has millions of fans, the decision regarding where we will play in the coming season must be completely documented from all aspects; competitively and economically. And you can be sure that it will be.
Furthermore, our friends at the EuroLeague can be sure that the bad boy called Panathinaikos, the bad boy that went to the SuproLeague in 2000 and found justice, the bad boy that in 2009 spoke out for what was right regarding television rights and more, for its own interests and the interests of others, this bad boy that hasn’t learned how to bow its head and is still paying the price 11 years later, mercilessly hunted on and off the courts, this bad boy won’t back down. And in the end, instead of being the black sheep that everything thinks it is, perhaps this bad boy is the wolf… As a wise man said, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Imagine being fooled and having your sweat stolen from you, repeatedly…
Especially when you are struggling, shouting for your rights, and having exhaustive penalties enforced against you… That’s it for our beloved EuroLeague…
Panathinaikos is the greatest Association of the last 30 years in European basketball.
The team that brings in the most income. And everyone knows that whether in FIBA or in EuroLeague or anywhere else, the doors are and always will be open for Panathinaikos.