Developments in the Greek basketball match-fixing investigation are gathering pace, after Evangelos Liolios, who resigned as president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK), and businessman Giorgos Mavraganis, a close associate of his, were remanded in custody yesterday following questioning.

Both men denied the charges against them. However, the judicial authorities ordered their pre-trial detention, bringing the total number of people held in custody in connection with the Basketgate case to three. The scandal has sent shockwaves through the sporting world.

It will be recalled that former international referee Petros Papapetrou was remanded in custody last Friday. He spent hours being questioned by the investigating judge before the decision was taken to detain him pending trial.

Three More Referees to Be Questioned Today

The judicial investigation continues today, Monday 26 October, with three more figures from the refereeing sector expected to appear before the investigating judge.

They are international referee Vaso Tsaroucha, refereeing special adviser Ilias Koromilas, and former referee and member of the Central Refereeing Committee (KE D) Tasos Pilodidis, all of whom have been summoned to give evidence in connection with the same case.

Meanwhile, developments are also prompting activity at institutional level, with a meeting scheduled for today between Sports Minister Giannis Vroutsis and members of the Hellenic Basketball Federation’s board.

The meeting is due to take place at 12 noon in the minister’s office, following a conversation he held with the Federation’s vice-president and the president of the Greek Basketball League (ESAKE), Michalis Melis.

The discussions will focus on the judicial developments surrounding Basketgate, their impact on Greek basketball and the future of the sport.

What Liolios and Mavraganis Claimed

For three and a half hours yesterday, Evangelos Liolios, the former EOK president who is facing charges, sought to rebut the indictment against him for repeated bribery under sports legislation.

According to reports, Liolios denied the charges, declared himself innocent and spoke of a “war” waged against him in an effort to force him out of the Federation’s presidency.

The defendant cited a series of financial and tax audits to which he had been subjected, arguing that none had uncovered any wrongdoing on his part.

He maintained that the most recent audit took place in 2025 and covered the years 2019–2020, as well as all his professional activities, in which nothing suspicious was found. He stressed that, as part of this audit, everything relating to Promitheas Patras, his company in the catering sector and the EOK had been scrutinised in minute detail.

Among other things, according to the same reports, safe-deposit boxes and domestic and foreign bank accounts were also examined, with nothing suspicious being found.

For his part, Giorgos Mavraganis gave a brief statement lasting just 40 minutes. Despite the highly incriminating testimony given against him by a number of witnesses, who claimed that he had effectively acted on Liolios’s behalf by seeking to manipulate matches, he denied the charges.

Liolios’s Lawyer Challenges the Decision

Speaking after the proceedings had concluded, Panagiotis Papaioannou, counsel for Liolios, openly challenged the reasoning behind the decision, arguing that it did not reflect the seriousness of the case and lacked an adequate legal basis.

Papaioannou argued that the case had been influenced by third-party interventions, directing his criticism at those who had helped shape the indictment.

“Congratulations to those who managed to instrumentalise the justice system. There is only one truth, and it fears absolutely nothing. Evangelos Liolios was innocent, is innocent and will be proved innocent,” he said.

He subsequently criticised the reasoning behind the decision, describing the grounds set out in the pre-trial detention warrant as inadequate.

Defence Says Referee Appointments Are Made by Algorithm

Meanwhile, Liolios’s lawyer, Christos Tsolkas, voiced strong opposition to the decision to remand his client in custody, arguing that it was wrong and had been influenced by the climate that had developed over the past few days.

He also revealed that the defence had submitted evidence indicating that referee appointments in the national divisions are made through an electronic algorithm, without the possibility of human intervention.

“It is a wrong decision. I would simply call it excessive. But ultimately, I believe it is a wrong decision, dictated by the climate that has developed over the past few days,” the lawyer said after the lengthy proceedings had concluded.

The lawyer placed particular emphasis on a piece of evidence which, he said, had been submitted during the proceedings and concerned the way referees are appointed in the national divisions.

According to Tsolkas, appointments are no longer made by the Central Refereeing Committee but through an electronic system established on the initiative of Evangelos Liolios.