(Panathinaikos BC owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos)
Panathinaikos Basketaball Club is to leave the Euroleague after the end of the season as the proposal of President Dimitris Giannakopoulos for a change in the league’s leadership has been rejected by the other clubs.
The “Greens” proposals were not accepted by the league’s council held in Madrid and after the meeting the club announced that it would withdraw from the tournament after the end of the season and return to the FIBA Champions League.
Panathinaikos, represented by Giannakopoulos and Manos Papadopoulos, raised the issue of voting and electing a new head of Euroleague to replace Jordi Bertomeu, the current President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball. However, the Greek proposal was not accepted as the remaining clubs took the side of Bertomeu.
The decision to leave the Euroleague had been taken earlier as Giannakopoulos had a rift with the league complaining that referees are consistently unfair to Panathinaikos. The Greek basketball club has a contract with the Euroleague and it is likely that its owner will have to pay a reported €10 million to break it.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
