Panathinaikos BC strongman Dimitris Giannakopoulos announced the Athens basketball franchise was up for sale with a starting price of 25 million euros.
In 75-minute press conference, Giannakopoulos, whose family has tied their name with the dominance of the club in Greek and European basketball for decades, as well as other sports domestically, revealed he would be departing from the organisation, while he also said he would be withdrawing from all other sports divisions of Panathinaikos.
In his familiar tone and with his usual candour, the club’s major shareholder said his family had invested 450 million euros during their time at the club from 1976, while he expressed his disgruntlement with the Athens municipality about the change of plans regarding the Votanikos project. The ambitious plan involved the concession by the council to Panathinaikos to house all the club’s divisions in one large area at Votanikos and the commercial use snd exploitation of surrounding stores for swapping club’s historic football ground “Apostolos Nikolaidis” on Alexandras avenue.to
Giannakopoulos blasted the Eurolague President Jordi Bertomeu, adding that Panathinaikos’s return to FIBA and the Champions League was inevitable.
He clarified that even if he leaves the Amateur sports divisions, he would continue to financially contribute and especially men’s volleyball (something he stressed several times).
