The Greek Basketball Scandal Has Reached the EuroLeague: 820,000 Euros in One Referee's Safe

Greece: arrests, warrants and 820,000 euros in a safe

The biggest basketball story of the week didn't play out on the court, but in the office of Athens sports prosecutor Apostolos Gramenos. The president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK) Vangelis Liolios, former EuroLeague referee and official Ilias Koromilas and referee Petros Papapetrou have been arrested, and arrest warrants were issued for three more. According to the Greek press, during the searches 820,000 euros in cash were found in a safe in the house of a referee in the provinces - one of several large sums whose origin can't be explained for now. The investigation concerns allegedly fixed matches in the top league and in lower competitions, going back at least five years. There is no verdict and nobody is guilty until a court says otherwise. But when the federation sees its own president in handcuffs, the question is no longer who's blowing the whistle - but who was paying.

The EuroLeague suspends referee Tsarouha

The scandal has officially crossed the Greek border. Vasiliki Tsarouha, an active EuroLeague referee who was the subject of a warrant, was arrested at the airport on her return from a EuroCup game in Turkey. The EuroLeague immediately suspended her from officiating in all its competitions until both the Greek authorities' investigation and its internal review are complete. Koromilas, Papapetrou and Tsarouha refereed EuroLeague games in the 2018-2026 period that investigators are examining. Koromilas's name isn't new: in 2023 a Ukrainian referee claimed he had been offered a bribe of 10,000 euros through an intermediary before the 2021 EuroCup final, but the EuroLeague's investigation at the time found no bribery attempt and the case was closed. How many times does a name have to come up before it becomes a problem?

Edwards 45, Giannis 35 - and a tough debut in Miami

The new NBA season started with a scene nobody in Miami ordered. Giannis Antetokounmpo played his first official game for the Heat, scored 35 points on 13 of 19 shooting - and lost at home 106:131 to Minnesota. The reason is called Anthony Edwards: 45 points, 10 rebounds and nine threes in 33 minutes. With that he joined Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain as the only players with 40 or more points on opening night - and for the second time. Miami hit only 8 of 33 threes. "Trust can't go out the window," Giannis said after the game. When the first word after your debut is "trust," that's usually a conversation for February, not October.

Nenad Dimitrijević: 17 points in 20 minutes and Aris at 4 for 4

From Greece came one clean basketball story too - with a Macedonian signature. Macedonian national team player Nenad Dimitrijević, with 17 points and four assists in exactly 20 minutes, was one of the leaders of Aris in a convincing win in Germany over Rostock, in which the Greek team passed 100 points for the first time this season in the EuroCup. It's the fourth win in four games for Vassilis Spanoulis's team. Dimitrijević was again in the starting five and hit three of four threes. For the national team that's better news than any NBA number: its playmaker is in form already in October.

Adamovska one rebound short of a triple-double in the women's First League

The women's First League started with numbers that deserve more attention than they usually get. In the opening round Sanja Adamovska of Basket Kam played all 40 minutes against MZT Skopje: 13 points, nine rebounds and ten assists - one rebound short of a triple-double. She added six steals, for an efficiency rating of 28, the highest of the round. Zara Stojkovska scored 27 points in Gevgelija's win over Patriot 2016, and Melisa Dönmez debuted for Vardar with 16 points and ten rebounds. Points in the women's league count the same as in the men's. How many of these names will we see on the front pages?