By Aris Barkas/ barkas@eurohoops.net
Just hours after the news about the wish of Thomas Walkup to become Greek, the official decision of the Greek state is publicized and the guard of Olympiacos officially got Greek citizenship.
Walkup is not only eligible to play in the Greek national team as a naturalized player but will also free up a foreigner spot in Olympiacos‘ roster for the Greek league.
That proved to be a declaration of war for Panathinaikos, considering the fact that Walkup recently signed a new four-year contract with the Reds.
While there’s no official reaction by the Greens, their communications officer, Dimitris Kontos, wrote on his social media: “In 19 months, you become a Greek while at the same time that others struggle for years to get the passport of the country they attended its schools, hold its flag and breathed its air from babies. With a phone call and a piece of paper for someone who recently answered ‘I’m American,’ everything is done. Another success of the federation president Vaggelis Liolios’ administration for ‘Greek basketball'”.
Kontos is referring to the fact that being born in Greece doesn’t translate to automatic citizenship and that’s the case for many children of immigrants who are born in Greece, leave in Greece, but are not automatically Greek citizens. The most famous case of this practice is Giannis Antetokoummpo who became a Greek citizen just before the NBA draft.
And while there’s not – at least yet – a press release on the matter by Panathinaikos, the position of the club unofficially is the following: “Panathinaikos is never going to follow the mockery and anti-Hellenic tactics that irreparably harm Greek basketball. We are not going to ask for the Greekization of our own foreign athletes, nor will we enter into the process of asking for more foreigners and fewer Greeks to play in our championship. Because we are Panathinaikos, the biggest team in Greek sports that represents Greek ideals everywhere”.
The only official reaction came so far from the Greek Players Union, which clarifies that they were not aware of the process and asks for Walkup to continue to have foreigner status in the Greek League roster.