By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu talked about the most recent feud between Greek powerhouses and archrivals Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, stating that he won’t allow it to become a stain on the competition.
“The most important thing is that I will not let the Euroleague be littered with these Greek things,” Bertomeu said to Sports.ru. “They have legendary wars in the local championship, but at the Euroleague level, we do not allow such incidents. They do not want to solve these issues in a civilized manner at the level of the Greek Championship, but these are their problems. So far we have managed to do this: They know that in the Euroleague such things are treated much more strictly“.
Regarding the aftermath of the EuroLeague game between the two teams and the reports on Panathinaikos claiming that Olympiacos tried to bribe the referees, Bertomeu said the following:
“We are investigating this incident, and our committee does not yet have evidence that Giannakopoulos really claimed that Olympiacos was trying to bribe the judges officiating the match between the Greek clubs. Local journalists refuse to provide us with relevant records. But these are all Greek questions“.
Speaking about Dimitris Giannakopoulos, Bertomeu said that in person things are quite different, compared to what one may have imagined: “Dimitris is a great guy who suddenly stopped thinking with his head. But when you meet him, you see a wonderful person. I try to explain to him that he is the president, that he is the owner of the club, that he is a public figure, that he should behave differently, especially now that you can say anything on social networks. I am always very frank with him: there is a line that cannot be crossed, otherwise, you will be punished. The same thing happened last year: at some point, I gave him a second chance, he agreed with me, but after two weeks he continued to bomb in social networks. The rules are very simple and clear“.