Basketball scandal: The creation of an “army” and the luxury hotel – What will liolios say? (VIDEO)

Developments surrounding the Greek basketball scandal continue unabated!

A former referee testified that he had informed the president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK) as early as December 2021 about his concerns regarding officiating. SKAI’s main newscast revealed what was said behind closed doors:

“In December 2021, during a joint meeting with … and Liolio in the office of the Hellenic Basketball Federation president, while the three of us were discussing refereeing issues, … expressed a concern we all shared to Liolios, which concerned the role of Mavraghanis and Ilias Koromilas, because we kept hearing that referees were meeting with them, plus the fact that Mavraghanis had previously owned a betting company, as well as a remark he had made to … Mavraghanis, during a private meeting: “Christos, we have to build our own army.”

These concerns were brought up, but the response, according to the same witness, was reassuring: “Liolios then replied that Mavraghanis had indeed previously owned a betting company, which he had since closed, that he has insight into the field as a former athlete and sports executive, that he has good and pure intentions, and that Koromilas—at least in Greece—is constantly monitored and under surveillance and does nothing reprehensible.”

Reservations for the luxury hotel

From the arbitration offices to reservations at a luxury hotel. Vangelis Tsapas, a former team owner, describes a request to organize a vacation for the head of Euroleague arbitration. According to his testimony, this hospitality was intended to foster good relations in Europe and secure favorable assignments for the accused Greek female referee.

“In June 2021, I was invited to Mavraghanis’s office for coffee, where Mavraghanis, Liolios, and Koromilas were present. There, they asked me—given the connections I had and still have—to arrange a vacation at Costa Navarino for the Euroleague Director of Refereeing. The reason was that Mr. Liolios would cover these expenses—which were quite substantial— because Prometheus was participating in the EuroCup and wanted to maintain good relations, and also wanted to help Ms. Tsaroucha with her EuroLeague appointments.”

According to the testimony of the former team owner, who is considered a key witness in the case, the defendants did not hesitate to request favorable calls, even against their own team, in order to achieve their goals

.“Mavraghanis called me, furious, and said, “The president absolutely wants us to get rid of Bogris. Do whatever you can”… The next morning, I went to Mr. Mavraghanis’s office, briefed him, and he waved Mr. Bogris’s contract in front of me, emphasizing that if he received a certain number of technical fouls, the player would be subject to a very high fine. At that moment, Mr. Ilias Koromilas—then an active referee and now an advisor to the Hellenic Basketball Federation on refereeing matters—appeared and said to me, “Just wait and see what happens in the next game.”

Indeed, Giorgos Bogris, who was playing for Promitheas at the time, received the technical fouls. She describes it on the online show (Betarades): “Most of what has come to light has nothing to do with a single result. It has to do with high school and amateur games. Even in the Second Division last year, Ms. Tsaroucha came and really gave it to me in the Amynta-Faliro game. They came to Amynta-Faliro and called five fouls on me in six minutes during the third quarter—I hadn’t committed five fouls all season long…”

On Friday night, after a marathon proceeding that lasted more than eight hours, the referee, Petros Papapetrou, was placed in pretrial detention, with the consent of the investigating judge and the prosecutor, as the claims he made failed to convince the authorities. His attorney, Orestis Georgiadis, expressed his doubts: “We clearly have very serious doubts and objections regarding the indictment. We consider it to be completely unfounded, and it goes without saying that an appeal will be filed with the misdemeanor court within ten days.”

The case file includes statements from officials and referees, as well as numerous messages that appear to incriminate the defendants.

Giorgos Dimitrakopoulos explained that among these messages was one from the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, in which he stated, in a confidential message from the Central Referees’ Committee, that he knew who would be selected even before the Central Referees’ Committee had issued its official decision. On Sunday, the two main defendants in the case, Vangelis Liolios and Giorgos Mavraghanis, will present their defense, and on Monday, referees Ilias Koromilas, Tassos Piloidis, and Vasiliki Tsaroucha.

The president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee is expected to deny all charges, arguing that there is no evidence, or other evidence proving that he gave orders to fix matches.

At the same time, he questions the credibility of the key witnesses, pointing out that he had already filed complaints against some of the same individuals as far back as 2022. Special mention is also expected to be made of the case involving Giorgos Bogris. The defense is expected to argue that there is evidence proving that his departure from Prometheus occurred for different reasons and not because of the technical penalties described in the complaints.The defense’s main argument is that the position of Federation president is not, in and of itself, sufficient to establish criminal liability.

The investigation is being expanded to encompass all of professional sports

By order of the head of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, Charalambos Vourliotis, not only the six defendants but also other figures in basketball who are not named in the case file are to be investigated. This investigation is, in fact, being expanded to include professional sports. According to reports, all sports subject to betting have come under scrutiny, including, of course, soccer, where numerous “red flags” have been raised for some time now. When a specialized algorithm detects activity that appears suspicious and cannot be justified, it will immediately trigger audits of assets, sources of funds, and transactions.

According to reports, there are other individuals who have been named, while witnesses—who are speaking out about these specific individuals, such as referees—point to criminal acts. Therefore, the investigating judge will eventually summon them to provide explanations. Apparently, at this stage, he determined that there was no need to issue arrest warrants; however, for those for whom he did issue them, he had to do so because they were fully involved in the matter.

In addition, decisions from the Gaming Commission are pending regarding which games were involved in the betting and whether there was any unusual excessive betting.

*photo source: KYPE