Panathinaikos issues statement on match-fixing investigation

Panathinaikos Basketball Club made a statement on the match-fixing and bribery allegations that emerged in Greece. The Greek team announced that it will go to court to win back what was taken from it by a "dirty system."

The club argued that referees are assigned to matches by certain people. The statement said that they continue to play in games officiated by referees who are being investigated for serious crimes and who are alleged to have hundreds of thousands of euros in cash at their homes. The club stressed that it keeps fighting inside a rotten system that pollutes basketball.

According to the Greek press, the Athens prosecutor's office found evidence of match-fixing and illegal betting in top-flight games during an investigation that lasted three months. Hellenic Basketball Federation President Vangelis Liolios and 5 people, including referees, had been detained on charges of match-fixing and bribery.

One of the detained referees, Vasiliki Tsaroucha, officiated yesterday's BKT EuroCup game between Türk Telekom and the Lithuanian team Siauliai. Tsaroucha was detained by officials at Athens Airport on her return from Türkiye. Reports also said that 820 thousand euros in cash was found at the country house of a referee who lives in Katerini.