By Rigas Dardalis/ dardalis@eurohoops.net
The committee of professional sports decided to change its decision about Panionios with a narrow 4-3 vote and the club from Athenian suberb of Nea Smirni gained again the right to compete in ESAKE’s league, the top professional league in Greece.
It’s a historic decision, since the committee had already announced officially by a press release its verdict and until now that was considered the point of no return. However, Panionios, its owner Ilias Lianos (photo) and the mayor of Nea Smirni, Stavros Tzoylakis, presented today the needed documents and the committee decided to change the verdict which was proven not so final after all.
In a typical Balkan way, two members of the parliament, Takis Baltakos and Vasilis Kapernaros, were also present as the lawyers of Kavala BC, which was hoping to get Panionios spot in the big league, accusing the committee of breaking the law. In order to help the cause of Kavala BC the vice president of parliament Giorgos Kalaintzis, who is elected in Kavala, was also present.