The Euroleague is set to lose Panathinaikos Basketball Club at the end of the current season.
The decision was made by club president, Dimitris Giannakopoulos after his proposal for a change in the league’s leadership was rejected during a league council meeting in Madrid this week.
As representatives of Panathinaikos, Giannakopoulos together with Manos Papadopoulos proposed a new Euroleague head to replace current President and CEO of Euroleague Basketball, Jordi Bertomeu. However the idea wasn’t favoured amongst the other clubs if the league, who voted in favour of keeping Bertomeu on.
While the decision to leave the league was announced soon after the meeting, it isn’t the only contributing factor to Giannakopoulos’ decision. On a number of occasions he has made complaints regarding referees being unfair towards the Greens.
Instead the president has said that Panathinaikos will return to the FIBA Champions League.
But if they stay true to their word, leaving the Euroleague will come at a significant financial cost given the club’s contract, which if broken will see Panathinaikos €10 million out of pocket.