Nearly a million euros seized and a EuroLeague referee in handcuffs: Greek basketball goes before an investigating judge

Greece: safes, bets and EuroLeague referees in handcuffs

Greek police have officially confirmed that their investigation into basketball match-fixing has seized 931,463 euros in cash, 14 phones, six laptops and 22 USB sticks. Six people have been arrested, and according to reports they include the president of the Greek Basketball Federation, Vangelis Liolios. A safe in one referee's home held 820,000 euros, another had 102,000, although the origin of the money is still being established and no link to specific matches has been proven. The scandal has reached the EuroLeague too: Vasiliki Tsarouha, the only active EuroLeague referee in the group, was arrested at the airport on her return from a EuroCup game in Turkey, and the EuroLeague has suspended her. Former EuroLeague referees Ilias Koromilas and Petros Papapetrou are also mentioned in the case. It is now before an investigating judge. How many results from past seasons will now be viewed with suspicion?

The eternal derby: a flare, a brawl and threes in the final seconds

The season's first eternal derby in the EuroLeague began with a lit flare at the feet of Crvena Zvezda fans and a fight in the stands before tip-off, and ended 85-82 to Partizan after overtime. The hosts led by as many as 18, Zvezda won the final quarter 25-10 to force overtime, but threes from Carlik Jones and Alessandro Pajola turned it around 17 seconds from the end. Jones finished with 26 points, while Chris Jones had 22 for Zvezda. Partizan now lead 6-3 in EuroLeague derbies. The basketball was textbook, and once again the stands stole part of the spotlight.

Dončić: 1 of 6 when guarded, 28 points at the end

Golden State rookie Jaxel Lendeborg guarded Luka Dončić so well that the Slovenian made only 1 of 6 shots in one-on-one matchups. The scoreboard said something else: 127-105 to the Lakers, Dončić with 28 points, 8 rebounds and 7 assists, and the Lakers shooting 56.8 percent as a team. Steve Kerr didn't want to hear about individual numbers and called them nonsense: "He guarded Luka well, but he burned us as a team." The two teams meet again next week in the NBA Cup. You can take away Dončić's shot, but not his control of the game.

MZT fined for chanting, Štip warned over the scorer's table

The Basketball Federation of Macedonia published its bulletin after the third round of the Super League, and the only significant remark concerns the champions. MZT Skopje must pay a 10,000 denar fine for offensive chanting by fans towards the visitors at the game they won 70-66 against TFT. Super League newcomers Štip received an official warning and must bring their scorer's table up to the standards for running matches. The fine is just over 160 euros. Will that sum make anyone change their repertoire in the stands?

First League: three unbeaten teams in each group

The third round of the Macedonian First League for men is played from Friday to Sunday, after two rounds that left each group with three unbeaten teams. In Group A these are Feniks 2010, Borec Basket and Vodno Sans, and the round opened with exactly that Friday clash between Feniks and Borec. Vodno Sans host Mega Basket on Saturday, and on Sunday it's Mladinec v Angeli and IBA Skopje v Crn Drim. In Group B, Gostivar, Vardar and Ohrid have perfect records: Ohrid visit Butel on Saturday, Gostivar travel to Gevgelija, and Vardar sit this round out. The games are streamed live online, which is no small thing for a second-tier league.