By Alex Molina/ info@eurohoops.net
The press conference after the win of Olympiacos against Barcelona opened up awkwardly and ended with a dedication of the win to the victims of the “Karaiskakis Stadium disaster”.
After his first comment for the game, the first question to coach Giorgos Bartzokas was if Olympiacos, a great team with great players like Vezenkov and Fournier, needs the favor of the referees.
Olympiacos coach kept his composure and answered: “This is a very provocative question. You don’t expect me to answer obviously. This is the new trend in the EuroLeague: Whoever is losing a game has to say something about the referees. Complaining and things like that. So it’s really ridiculous to give me that question and to expect me to say something else other than that in the game was 50%-50%. In the last four offenses, Kevin Punter took eight free throws. It’s about perspective. If you are a fan of Barcelona, you see things like that. But I’m a coach and I have to answer in the kind of normal questions of a journalist”.
The press conference continued and Bartzokas was also asked about the fans of his team who traveled once again to support.
Bartzokas took the chance to talk about the notorious incident in the football stadium of Olympiacos, named Karaiskakis, that occurred on 8 February 1981.
A total of 21 people, 20 supporters of Olympiacos and one supporter of AEK, died while rushing out of the stadium to celebrate the 6–0 victory of Olympiacos against AEK. The accident occurred in the historic Gate 7 due to a partially closed door. While exiting, some fans lost their balance and fell on the last steps: dozens fell onto each other and were stepped over by a horde of unsuspecting fans who kept coming in.
As Bartzokas said after praising Olympiacos fans who made the trip to Barcelona: “We dedicate this victory to those fans who died 33 years ago”.