Anastopoulos appointed for Eternal Derby, Olympiacos request postponement
Panagiotis Anastopoulos has been picked as the referee for the first match of the Basket League playoff series between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, with the Erythrolefki asking for the post-season to be postponed.
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On Friday, ESAKE confirmed that Anastopoulos, Anastasios Manos and Panagiotis Diamantis will be the referees for the opening match of the Basket League playoffs first round series between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. The game is set to take place at the Olympic Stadium at 19:00 on Monday.
However, after the scandal in February’s Greek Cup semi-final, Olympiacos revealed that they would refuse to play in a game with the participation of referees Anastopoulos and Manos. Last week, Anastopoulos was due to referee the Olympiacos - Promitheas Patras match, but he dropped out at the last minute after around 100 hooligans turned up at his house.
In connection with the news, Olympiacos released this following statement on their official Twitter account:
Χαιρετίζουμε τη μετά από καιρό ορθή λειτουργία της 5μελούς επιτροπής της ΚΕΔ, η οποία σήμερα συνεδρίασε σε πλήρη απαρτία με παρόντες τους κ.κ. Ταβουλαρέα, Κορομηλά, Συμεωνίδη, Μ.Παπαδόπουλο, Δ.Γιαννακόπουλο. #OlympiacosBC #WeAreOlympiacos
— Olympiacos B.C. (@olympiacosbc) 17 мая 2019 г.
Olympiacos also sent a letter to ESAKE, asking for the playoffs to be suspended, protesting against the legality of validating the 2018/2019 regular season standings and revealing their desire for the league president to step down:
“Today (17/05), Olympiacos BC sent a letter to ESAKE calling on the organisation to revoke the unlawful validation of the regular season table and to postpone the start of the playoffs.
At the same time, the club has called for the immediate resignation of ESAKE president Evangelos Galatsopoulos and the legal advisor, Eleni Gonidaki as a result of their misleading statements at the Board of Directors meeting, which directed colleagues to make the relevant decisions.
Olympiacos BC reserves the right to use legal powers in order to defend its legitimate interests.”
This season, Olympiacos have already forfeited the Greek Cup semi-final and one Basket League regular season meeting against Panathinaikos, meaning they will automatically suffer relegation to the second tier should the Erythrolefki refuse to play this match.
An emergency ESAKE Board of Directors meeting has been scheduled for Saturday morning in light of Olympiacos’ request for Galatsopoulos to step down from his role of president.
PANATHINAIKOS START TICKET SALES
Panathinaikos have now started ticket sales for the first match against Olympiacos, but if the game doesn’t go ahead, fans will have the option to claim a full refund.
The reigning Greek champions issued this statement on their official website:
“Panathinaikos OPAP BC informs its fans that ticket sales for the first match of the Basket League quarter-final against Olympiacos at the OAKA (20/5, 19:00) have started today (17/5).
In the event that the match doesn’t take place, fans will have the opportunity to donate the ticket price to the Panathinaikos Amateur Organisation if they give their consent when purchasing tickets. If they do not give their consent, supporters will be given a refund.”
