By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Panathinaikos Athens was sanctioned to play three games of the 2023-24 Greek League behind closed doors due to the incidents that took place in Game 4 of the 2023 Finals vs. Olympiacos Piraeus. The Greens had previously received a sanction of one game in an empty OAKA arena for what happened in Game 2 (fans throwing water and yogurt at the bench of Olympiacos).
Per the announcement by the Greek League Sports Judge, Panathinaikos was punished for “incidents that are considered defamatory to the sport, and the game wasn’t permanently stopped because of these incidents.” With almost 13 minutes to play and their team down 35 – 63 to Olympiacos, some Panathinaikos fans began throwing flares and smoke bombs toward the bench of Olympiacos and onto the protective net above it.
The game was interrupted as Olympiacos players headed to the locker room and, shortly afterward, the referees ordered the evacuation of the arena for the game to be finished. According to several reports, technical equipment (computers, monitors) was stolen from the officials’ table during the hiatus rendering the completion of the game impossible.
Initially, it was expected that Panathinaikos will start the 2023-24 season with two points deducted since that’s the standard sanction when a host club is considered responsible for actions that force a game to be permanently stopped. The ruling by the Sports Judge was that the game was forfeited for reasons that didn’t have to do with what caused its interruption and thus Panathinaikos didn’t receive the maximum punishment.