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Panathinaikos withdraws its participation in the Greek Basket League

Photo: EuroLeague Basketball

Panathinaikos officially announced on Wednesday (08/05) their decision to withdraw their participation in the Greek Basket League.

Per the club’s statement, the “Greens” will remain out of action “until the legitimacy, not the terrorism and the lawlessness that Olympiacos seeks to impose with the tolerance of the state, prevails again.”

Panathinaikos protests against the decision of the Referees Union and the Greek Basketball Federation to replace Panagiotis Anastopoulos, who had been selected to officiate the game between Olympiacos and Promitheas Patras (08/05).

Following an incident, which happened on Tuesday (07/05), where Anastopoulos was verbally assaulted and intimidated outside his house, the referee requested from the Referees Union to replace him.

At the same time, Olympiacos were expected to forfeit the match against Promitheas Patras and be relegated to the second division. However, they eventaully played, after Anastopoulos announced he would not join the match.

Anastopoulos was one of the three referees of the semi-final against Panathinaikos in mid-February, where Olympiacos had left at halftime.

After that game, the club had informed that “from now on the team won’t compete in any game of domestic competitions against any opponent if the game is officiated by referees Anastopoulos, Manos and Panagiotou.”

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