«Giannakopoulos has no place in Greek sports»

The statements of the Presidents of Olympiacos BC, Panagiotis and George Angelopoulos, regarding what took place before and during the game with "protagonist" Dimitris Giannakopoulos.

"We will state the real facts," emphasized Mr. George Angelopoulos. "He came to the stadium. He presented vulgar behavior towards me and my brother while we were sitting in our seats. He had done it in Abu Dhabi and went unpunished. Back then, he did it to our fans during a global television broadcast. Nothing changed here. They have forgiven him the penalties in the Euroleague. People are asking what we are doing. We will discuss this another time in a press conference. He continues to act terribly towards us. This is Giannakopoulos. So that you don't get confused and so that some high-ranking officials don't get confused either. This is who he is, this is what he did. As soon as he arrived at the stadium, he told one of our people not to even think about greeting him. Of course, there was no such intention, so we don't get confused again. To end this fairy tale here, which unfortunately you bear some responsibility for. Both you and the State, because we have been deceived enough here. Some pamper him, some cover for him, some give him things, and some even change laws for him. Let's say exactly what has happened and let each one take their responsibilities. Because the Pontius Pilate tactic can no longer be tolerated. Neither by us nor by Olympiakos. When he was under the basket and was told to go outside, in a state of frenzy he said he would catch my daughter, he would do something to her, he would show her, and I would be watching. This is Dimitris Giannakopoulos. Nikos Lepeniotis is a witness, along with at least five others. This happened under the basketball hoop in the presence of Nikos Lepeniotis, security personnel, and five other people. This is Giannakopoulos. Let the Panathinaikos fans enjoy him and celebrate, claiming he is a tough guy. We do not want such people".

Then the General Director of Olympiacos BC, Mr. Nikos Lepeniotis, took the floor. "He came to us twice. Once in the center of the court and said: 'Go tell Giorgos Angelopoulos that I will rape his daughter in front of him.' There were many witnesses from both the team and his security. Then he came under the basketball hoop and said the same thing in the presence of the sports prosecutor at the arena. And he threatened her as well."

Mr. Giorgos Angelopoulos emphasized: "Up until that moment and until we went downstairs, we had no idea. We had seen the gesture; however, we did not know what had been said. Nothing of what we are telling you here is disputed. There are videos. And if he has what it takes, he should come out and speak. Not through posts, like a real man. Everything is recorded on video. The responsibility of the Greek government is terrifying. Their responsibilities are terrifying. This cannot continue. We have done everything to prevent heads from rolling. And at the European level, all actions have been taken and in Greece. And some are gazing at the stars. This cannot continue. Then they shouldn't be saying we need to curb the violence. The guy is toxic; he is the definition of violence. He cannot continue to be involved in Greek sports doing these things. No apology will be accepted. After all this, he left the stadium and the other incidents that are on video occurred. Inside the locker room, when he realized the intention of Olympiacos BC to file a lawsuit for incitement to violence and other offenses, he fled. Until then, no arrests were made. Negotiations and discussions were happening during the game. Although these are offenses that are prosecuted ex officio, some were waiting for the lawsuits to be filed. There was no arrest because he is Giannakopoulos, because that’s what he is used to doing, because some change the laws in Greece to pamper him. The public tells us what is happening. If we go out to speak, we will have other issues. Here, no one can play with us or with Olympiacos. When he realized the intention to file a lawsuit by Olympiacos BC, he fled.

At this point, Mr. Nikos Lepeniotis intervened again: "The prosecutor ordered an arrest to be made after the filing of the lawsuit. Then he started shouting that he would enter the stadium. The police tried to restrain him, and he left, went to the locker room, and suddenly, after a while, some people started running to escape from the back side of the locker room."
Mr. Giorgos Angelopoulos took the floor again: "A crowd of people started to run. In front was Giannakopoulos and his personal security. There are unofficial videos that have emerged. I imagine there are more from the SEF cameras. He is running to escape because an arrest order has been issued, he runs from the corridor and reaches the famous parking lot. Giannakopoulos is running to leave; he is being evacuated. There is a police officer in front of the car, eventually the police officer leaves and he escapes. Anything else they say is a lie. Everything is recorded on video."

He continued: "Regarding Mr. Ataman... No one can mess with the Olympiacos fans. They need to rein him in. He works in a foreign country. I didn't have such an opinion of Mr. Ataman. No one can call the Olympiacos fans 'bastards'. It is unacceptable, it is toxic, it incites violence. I don't know how the finals will end. What happened is unacceptable both from Mr. Ataman and of course from Giannakopoulos."

Mr. Panagiotis Angelopoulos revealed that: "A lawsuit has been filed by the basketball club and the immediate arrest is in effect." Mr. George Angelopoulos added on the matter: "He is currently being sought as part of the immediate arrest. We demand that the Greek police arrest him immediately, we do not know where he lives. This fairy tale needs to end. We have read enough, you all say enough, okay you are doing your job, but basketball and sports are one thing and this is another."
"This is not basketball, this is not sports, it cannot exist in Western Civilization."

Mr. Panagiotis Angelopoulos expressed his surprise at what transpired. "Personally, I couldn't believe what was happening. This is beyond reason. We had issues in Abu Dhabi, today we had issues at the SEF. Someone needs to rein this person in. Panathinaikos is our great rival, they are respected, they have fans all over Greece, but they cannot be represented by this person. What happened is incomprehensible."

Mr. Georgios Angelopoulos also referred to reports suggesting that OAKA is a favorite to host the Euroleague Final Four. "Let them go and give him the Final Four. It's good for tourism. This person honors sports and Greece.... So let those who need to go, go, those who are already talking and thinking about going after this to give it to him."

When asked if they plan to attend the 3rd final at OAKA, Mr. Georgios Angelopoulos replied: "What is happening has nothing to do with sports. It is irrelevant who will win the championship this year. What happened cannot have a place in Greek sports. Such behaviors, such people cannot remain."
Finally, Mr. Panagiotis Angelopoulos argued that: "He came with the T-shirt to provoke the Olympiakos fans and then played dumb to the prosecutor, claiming that the initials mean something else."