There is immense excitement, not just in the diaspora but also in the National Basketball League (NBL) over the prospect of Australia becoming the first country outside of Greece to host the famous Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament.
The event, as was reported recently by Neos Kosmos, is held in honour of Panathinaikos BC’s patriarch and has become a staple of the club’s calendar with it now preparing for its seventh edition.
Last year’s event saw the tournament soar to new heights as it took place at the Panathenaic Stadium in front of 42,000 spectators, stealing the show on the international stage in the process.
For 2025, Panathinaikos BC – according to sources – is looking to go even bigger by taking the event beyond Greece’s borders.
Recently, the President of KK Partizan, Ostoja Mijailović, spoke with Mozzart Sport about numerous topics, among which was the possibility of the next Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament being in Australia.
He praised the tournament as a unique and important event that should occur for years to come, emphasising it is important to hold it across the world in other places filled with Greeks and Serbians.
“We are negotiating to organise a tournament every year around the world, where there are Greek and Serbian citizens,” Mijailović said in the interview
The NBL said in a statement that “the potential of having the Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament in either Sydney or Melbourne is a major coup for the NBL and Australia”.
Their statement revealed that the two aforementioned clubs are touring Australia this week, with executives from both having arrived in Melbourne this past Friday and attended the NBL game between Melbourne United and South East Melbourne Phoenix the following evening.
It further highlighted that the club officials will also visit Sydney while in Australia as they do their work ahead of deciding on the host for the tournament.
“To have executives from two of the biggest basketball teams in the world in Australia is an honour and incredibly exciting,” said Nikola Milivojevic, NBL Director and Board Member.
Milivojevic noted the event would be pivotal in strengthening the cultural and sporting ties between Europe and Australia, all the while delivering world-class basketball to the country’s shores.
“Both clubs are out here to scope out the best potential location and venue for the tournament, and we look forward to discussions continuing over the coming months.”
The Pavlos Giannakopoulos Tournament would be a four-game series in September and would feature Partizan, Panathinaikos, and two NBL teams, with the games being broadcast globally.
