ANNOUNCEMENT
Following months of deafening silence, HEBA and the Greek Basketball Federation tried yesterday to take a stand - coincidentally, almost at the same time (sic) - on behaviors and never heard before situations that have brought Greek Basketball to its lowest point in its history.
More specifically, yesterday's announcement by HEBA - which was issued without having being approved by the members of the Board of the Associaton or having even been notified about it (!), - only reaffirms the great need for the immediate intervention of the Governing Authorities in the Greek Basketball affairs.
It is at least saddening, that the elected President of HEBA, Mr. Galatsopoulos, publicly denounces any responsibility deriving from his paid position, while, at the same time, downgrades the mere existence of the only organizing authority of the League, claiming that the role of HEBA is practically to facilitate the National Teams calendar frame.
Therefore, we need to inform Mr. Galatsopoulos, that HEBA is not the 'vehicle' for the materialization of Mr. Vassilakopoulos' aspirations and the facilitation of the time frames set by the Federation. On the contrary, it is by law the competent authority to organize the League, and therefore, he bears most of the responsibility to secure equal standards and prevent any wrong doings.
So, we publicly ask from the President of HEBA to give a clear response, without innuendos, on the following:
• Is the ban imposed on the four international referees legal or not?
• Is it legal for the Greek Federation to not adhere by the decisions made by the Supreme Council for the Resolution of Sporting Disputes or not?
SILENCE IS COMPLIANCE, Mr. Galatsopoulos… The President of HEBA is not the one to protect the interests of the Greek Federation… If you don't have the power to deal with the extremely serious responsibilities deriving from your institutional position and you are not willing to actively protect the millions invested by the owners of the Basketball SAs that you are called to represent, then you need to step down immediately, before it's too late…
Of course, all of the above, are true for the Greek Federation as well, that has also denounced any responsibility whatsoever, as made known through a leak (!!!)
What was that we learned (sic) once again by those infamous "circles" around Mr. Vassilakopoulos?
• That the one to decide for the referees' nominations and is responsible for not abiding with the decisions of the Supreme Council for the Resolution of Sporting Disputes is not the Greek Federation but rather the Central Refereeing Committee. Meaning, that YES, there is a breach of court decisions (!!!), but those who should be prosecuted are the members of the C.R.C and not Mr. Vassilakopoulos, who is by law responsible to nominate the members of the C.R.C and its governance (!!!).
•That, according to the evaluation of the Greek Federation and the C.R.C, refs that lack any kind of international recognition and participation are more skilled to officiate the League finals than really seasoned veteran refs of the likes of Messrs. Gkontas, Papapetrou, Foufis and Koromilas (!!!).
• That the international referee Mr. Koromilas was nominated to officiate the 3rd place final of the League, and not the crucial games against Panathinaikos, because he had officiated the 3rd place final of the Euroleague FINAL 4 (!!!).
It's been already 48 hours since Messrs. Panagiotis and Giorgos Angelopoulos sent a letter to the Prime Minister Mr. Alexis Tsipras and the ridicule and downgrading of the sport from the State financed Greek Federation unfortunately continues uncontrollably.
Restoring the rule of law in Greek sports is now more mandatory than ever
OLYMPIACOS BC