"They Want to Arrest the President!" Giannakopoulos in New Scandal, 10 Police Officers Awaited Him, Heated Press Conference!

Pulse Sports Team 05:35 - 01 May 2026

Valencia basketball players suffered their second consecutive painful home defeat to Panathinaikos, losing 105-107 in overtime. With this victory, the "Greens" from Athens now lead the best-of-three series 2-0 before the clash moves to the Greek capital.

However, the main talking point after the dramatic game revolved around Panathinaikos owner, Dimitris Giannakopoulos. Athens' coach, Ergin Ataman, made strong accusations at the post-match press conference, claiming Spanish police were waiting outside the locker room.

"I'll be very brief because there are 10 police officers outside our locker room who want to arrest some of our staff and our president, Giannakopoulos. For the first time in my career – and I've been in sports for 30 years – I'm seeing something like this. We won with a last-second basket, we're all happy, and the police and Valencia staff are forming a cordon outside our locker room. Ten police officers are not letting us celebrate; they want to arrest our president, general manager, and some other people. What is this? Thank you very much, enjoy. See you in Athens. See you in Athens, guys!"

Ataman then stood up and left the press conference room.

Earlier, Valencia's head coach, Pedro Martinez, also spoke about Giannakopoulos, criticizing his presence during the game.

"It's clear we must congratulate our opponents; they have a great team. But their president is a disgrace. He is an embarrassment to the sport, and it's unacceptable that the EuroLeague, as such a serious league, allows people who go against all sporting values to be present and spoil the atmosphere in what is a beautiful sport. Someone wins, someone loses; that's sports. But for that man to go to the scorer's table to intervene and influence the game, that is completely unacceptable. The EuroLeague must react."

The third game is scheduled for next week in Athens.