Zeljko Obradovic turned against the referees of the game against Real Madrid, acusing them of coming to Athens with an agenda while also saying that his team was playing against 8.
All this, in the press conference, after the game, where Obradovic appeared with a 30' delay as he was reviewing the video of the game to confirm his opinion. Those were the statements of furious coach Obradovic:
"It is very difficult to say anything about the game, simply because there was no game. We were playing against 8 players from the first second. Refs were clearly against Panathinaikos. Absolutely different criteria for each side. I am saying this because we watched the 8 first minutes of the game in the locker rooms, reviewing the game play by play. I told that to the refs too.
I've been coaching for 19 years and it is very easy for me to understand what they came to do in this game. From our second possession there was a foul against us that was not called and the referee told me I was right, "but only in the first possession there was a foul which I didn't call.". Telling me I was right? Then why didn't he call it? That indicates something. This is what I told my players at halftime, that with such refereeing let's try to do whatever we can.
It is tough to compete that way. And they fought and I am glad that our fans understood what was going on on the floor. Alone that they were clapping for them so ironicaly, it was an indication that every one in OAKA tonight knew what these refs had come to do.
It was obvious from the very first calls. From the technical foul in the first 5 minutes. There was a clear foul and the players had a normal reaction, the kind that occur at hundreds every night. He first looked at the ball, then at us and gave a technical. And that was in the 5th minute! Normally, if he saw reactions getting out of control, he should have come to the bench and warn us, tell me that no one is to stand up again. A clear indications on what they wanted to do today.
Shall we talk about the flagrant foul they whistled on Spanoulis? This means 2 freethrows and possession. On an anti-sportive of Prigioni it wasn't called. I invite anyone to watch the game and see what happened."
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