By Niki Bakouli/ bakouli@eurohoops.net
The easiest way to cover up and not to solve a problem is to have meetings with no actual meaning and delay the whole process, knowing that it’s a matter of few days for everybody to move on to their next problem and forget all about you, having to make a decision and impose some actual rules, as a proper state should. And if the same problem comes again to everybody’s attention, you start again the same process from the beginning.
That’s what happened on Friday, when Greek sports general secretary Panagiοtis Bitsaxis invited to his office the representatives of the Greek basketball league, the Greek basketball federation, Olympiacos, Panathinaikos and the police to discuss how the Greek Finals can become a reality after the attack of Panathinaikos‘ bus on Thursday night.
After Bitsaxis heard what George Skindilias (vice president of Olympiacos BC) and Thanasis Giannakopoulos (vice president of Panathinaikos BC) had to say, he asked them to leave the room, in order –as he said- to discuss alone all the facts with the police, the Greek federation and the Greek league and decide how and when the games can be held. “This is outrageous”, was the reaction of Skindilias to the reporters. Bitsaxis told to the finalists that they will know what… they are going to do on Saturday, with an official announcement! Before that he will talk with his superior, transitional minister of culture mrs Tatiana Karapanagioti.
But, as it was unofficially announced a little later, the finals will start on Monday and they will be finished by Saturday the 2nd of June. All games will be played at 18.00 CET. Of course, the police is going to be everywhere and the exact security measures will be anounced on Saturday. The fans will have the right to go to the gym and the host team will have to acknowledge responsibility for their behavior.