“Let’s go for the best season ever. The unbeatable trio.” “We’ll stop them wherever we can.” “The president really wants this.” These statements, which are reportedly included in messages and testimonies in the case file regarding match-fixing in Greek basketball, are at the center of the preliminary investigation. The conversations described by key witnesses—who were involved and have already testified—concern school games, as well as First and Second Division games in the Greek basketball league, with an active referee claiming that he received instructions on how to officiate games, securing in exchange his “appointment” to major tournaments.
The series of testimonies from the six defendants begins today, starting with a former referee, at whose home 820,000 euros were found. On Sunday, Hellenic Football Federation (EOK) President Vangelis Liolios and his business partner are expected to testify, while the remaining three defendants (former and current referees) have been given a deadline for Monday.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
The word “dust” meant achieving the desired result with minimal protest—the phrase “dust and debris” referred to more intense intervention.
According to reports, one of the two key witnesses, a current referee, has officiated in approximately 30 second-division matches from 2018 to 2026. According to his account, he allegedly received instructions on how to officiate specific matches. For example, the investigation is focusing on the match between Promitheas Patras – Lavrio, which took place on December 7, 2019, for the Basket League (photo). Before the game began, the businessman asked him to favor Prometheus, while at halftime he allegedly changed his instructions, this time asking him to favor Lavrio; the game ended with a 77–66 victory for Prometheus.
According to the testimony, in the finals of the Boys’ School Championship in May 2025, the goal was for Prometheus to win the championship. As the witness reportedly testified, the accused businessman told him: “I’ll pair you with (he mentions the last names of two referees)—you’re a strong team, friends, there’s trust—and I’ll arrange for you to stay at a nice hotel, since you’ll look out for us.” On May 11, 2025, in the Patras final, Anagennisi Patras faced Mantoulidis Schools, winning 69–57. According to the witness’s alleged testimony, ten minutes before the start of the game, he sent a message to the accused businessman and associate of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK) president, writing: “…let’s go for the win of the year. Unbeatable trio.” The description of the incident states that Anagennisi won easily, with refereeing decisions in its favor. After the game, the witness allegedly sent another message to the businessman on behalf of the three referees for the Boys’ School Championship games, writing: “Thank you very much for your hospitality… (lists three referees’ names).”
The case file also describes the AGEX vs. Doxa Lefkada match on October 20, 2025, for the third round of the Elite League, in Chalkida. Three individuals officiated the game, including the witness, with Doxa Lefkada prevailing 78–77. According to the witness’s alleged testimony, the businessman invited him to his office for coffee and spoke to him about the feud that had begun with the president of Amarousios, because, as he told him, the president had taken his coach away from Prometheus (ed. note: Ilias Papatheodorou). According to the same account, the businessman told him that Vangelis Liolios had decided to oust the president of Marousi from basketball. In fact, he reportedly told him: “You should know that Marousi, Lavrio, and Chalkida—where (name mentioned) is the coach, who is the best man of the president of Marousi—will have a big problem this year.” According to the testimony, the instruction was for the referees to target those specific teams whenever they faced them.
Reference is also made to the Panathinaikos–Doukas game on December 4, 2021, for the U18 Rising Stars tournament, which ended with a 71–60 victory for Doukas. According to the testimony, the witness received a request from the businessman to ensure Doukas’s victory, due to the open rivalry that, it is alleged, existed with Panathinaikos. The phrase he allegedly used was: “We’ll stop them wherever we can.” Of particular interest is the phrase “dust and debris,” which he allegedly often used when giving him instructions for matches. As he reportedly stated in his testimony, the word “dust” meant achieving the desired result with minimal protests, while the expression “dust and ashes” referred to a much more forceful intervention: “It meant I was to do everything, whatever was possible—even if it was provocative—to achieve the desired result.”
*photo source: KYPE
