Late Tuesday night, Dimitris Giannakopoulos posted on his personal social media account about the scandal involving alleged match-fixing in Greek basketball.
He specifically stated:
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
Panathinaikos: Big goals for the restart
“Today’s questions. Let’s start with the classic question. One: Were the phones tapped? Are you listening, Mavragani? Two: Liolios Mavragani. Liolios said that Mavragani is his friend. Today or yesterday, a current referee testified and said that before every appointment, they had to speak with Mavragani to appoint referees. I’ll ask. Are there joint accounts and joint companies belonging to Liolios and Mavraghanis in Belgium? And what do they do?
Do these two friends have joint accounts and companies in Cyprus? And what are they doing? But let’s move on to the more serious issue. There is a chief of staff to a high-ranking government official whose wife, until recently, owned two Coffee Island cafes; the other one was sold just recently. I ask… Will the phones start ringing? With or without a question mark.
In the previous story, you witnessed the ridiculous attempt by some people to sling mud and tear down individuals who are trying to do something good for basketball. I want to ask something. When Tsaroucha’s Facebook posts were going around—the ones full of legendary, Olympiacos, and so on—was everything okay then? When people had Olympiacos jerseys in their homes, was everything okay then? When it’s been written somewhere—and it’ll come out—that Giannakopoulos can go f*** himself, and I don’t care about anything other than the top spot at the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK). Was everything fine then? Was there nothing going on there?
When Liolios was traveling back and forth on Olympiacos BC’s charter flights, was everything okay? There were also many other referees registered at Gate 7, their parents with their children at SEF every time, shouting (editor’s note: he was referring to a chant), and it didn’t bother anyone that they were all Olympiacos fans. Now does it bother you?
And one last thing before I say good night. Do you hear the chants for Tsaroucha like that? Do you hear the chants for Bartzokas like that? You see the banners. I got 10 months and a 90,000 fine for defaming basketball again. At the borrowed arena that Olympiacos is using until the state-owned one is built—that in three games (editor’s note: he referred to a chant again)—isn’t that defamation of basketball? Isn’t that what it is?”
*photo source: Panathinaikos BC
