Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos has launched a fierce attack on detained basketball figures Evangelos Liolios and Giorgos Mavraganis over a Greek match-fixing scandal.
Giannakopoulos published a series of video statements on his Instagram account in the early hours of Wednesday morning, questioning judicial progress in the inquiry and protesting against a fresh disciplinary sanction imposed on him.
The Panathinaikos president condemned a 10-month suspension and a 90,000-euro fine handed to him for allegedly defaming basketball, arguing that authorities had ignored persistent abusive chanting directed at him by rival Olympiacos supporters.
Giannakopoulos is a prominent Greek pharmaceutical businessman who has led Panathinaikos BC for more than a decade. The Athens club shares an intense, decades-long rivalry with Piraeus-based Olympiacos, with both teams competing at the pinnacle of the domestic Greek Basket League and the European EuroLeague.
Both Liolios, who serves as president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation, and sports official Mavraganis have been placed in pre-trial detention as part of a sweeping judicial investigation into alleged match fixing in Greek basketball.
Questions over phone records and referee appointments
In his video messages, Giannakopoulos repeatedly asked whether investigators had opened the mobile phones of the detained men to examine their call logs and communications.
He pointed out that Liolios had previously acknowledged that Mavraganis was his friend. Giannakopoulos claimed that an active referee had given testimony stating that match officials had to speak directly with Mavraganis before any referee appointments could be confirmed.
Giannakopoulos demanded to know whether joint bank accounts and joint commercial companies linked to Liolios and Mavraganis exist in Belgium. He asked what those companies do and questioned whether the two men also hold joint bank accounts and corporate entities in Cyprus.
Allegations of political ties and business links
Giannakopoulos turned to what he described as a far more serious matter, raising questions about political connections surrounding the case.
He asked whether the wife of a general secretary in the office of a senior government official had until recently owned two franchise branches of Coffee Island, the Greek coffee chain founded by Liolios, before recently selling one of the locations.
The club owner reiterated his call for authorities to examine mobile phone records thoroughly, insisting that the question of whether communications would be investigated stood with and without a question mark.
He dismissed what he called a laughable attempt by critics to fling mud and tear down individuals who are genuinely attempting to improve Greek basketball.
Claims of bias and federation favoritism
Giannakopoulos broadened his accusations to encompass what he characterised as long-standing bias among referees and officials at the Hellenic Basketball Federation, known as the EOK.
He cited the case of international referee Vasso Tsaroucha, asking why no action had been taken when social media posts surfaced in which she expressed open support for Olympiacos with fan slogans.
He also questioned why authorities did not intervene when Olympiacos shirts were allegedly discovered in residences, and claimed that written messages from the highest levels of the federation had expressed open animosity toward him.
Giannakopoulos further challenged past travels by Liolios, asking whether it had been acceptable for the federation president to travel aboard charter flights operated by Olympiacos.
He alleged that other match officials, naming Tiganis and Tsimpouris while noting that he might not have their exact names, were declared members of Olympiacos supporter group Gate 7. He claimed that the relatives of those referees regularly attended matches at the Peace and Friendship Stadium and shouted vulgar, homophobic and narcotics-related insults at him.
Protest over disciplinary sanctions and arena chants
Giannakopoulos contrasted the scrutiny he faces with the lack of punishment for chants directed at referee Tsaroucha and Olympiacos head coach Georgios Bartzokas, as well as banners displayed inside arenas.
He expressed fury that he had been hit with a 10-month ban and a 90,000-euro fine for defaming the sport, while foul abuse directed at him during three separate matches at the Peace and Friendship Stadium had gone unpunished.
He noted that Olympiacos currently uses the state-owned arena on loan while waiting for official refurbishment works to be completed. Giannakopoulos asked whether repeated personal abuse from the stands did not constitute defamation of basketball, branding his detractors ridiculous and describing them as clowns.
