Olympiacos BC have filed formal disciplinary complaints to EuroLeague and Greek league organizers ESAKE against Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos and his club over offensive behaviour.
The Piraeus club published the full details of their legal submissions on Monday night, shortly after Giannakopoulos disclosed on his personal social media channels that two formal filings had been served against him.
Olympiacos stated that the actions address abusive conduct by Panathinaikos supporters during a continental fixture in Athens, as well as multiple online statements by Giannakopoulos directed against the club and head coach Georgios Bartzokas.
EuroLeague complaint over OAKA match
The first complaint, submitted directly to Euroleague Basketball, concerns events that took place on 22 October 2026 during a regular season game between Panathinaikos and Spanish side Baskonia Vitoria-Gasteiz at the OAKA arena.
According to the filing, television cameras broadcast hundreds of home supporters displaying an offensive banner across the stands. The banner asserted that European basketball was tainted by match-fixing and illicit money, ending with an explicit vulgarity directed at Piraeus.
Olympiacos noted in their submission that the word Piraeus was painted in bright red lettering. The club explained that this colour choice left no ambiguity that the hostility was aimed at Olympiacos, who have played in red and white since their founding in the neighbouring port city.
Alongside the banner, supporters sang a coordinated vulgar chant targeting domestic basketball figures. The chant called for female referee Vasiliki Tsaroucha in a striped prison uniform and Hellenic Basketball Federation president Vangelis Liolios to be sent to jail, adding that Bartzokas would bring them food.
Social media amplification on Instagram
Olympiacos argued that Giannakopoulos escalated the stadium incident by broadcasting it across his personal digital platform. Shortly after the final buzzer, the Panathinaikos chief posted multiple videos with recorded audio and photographs showing the banner and chants from various vantage points.
The footage appeared on his verified Instagram account under the handle dpg7000, which reached more than 647,000 followers at the time of the match. Olympiacos stated that this public broadcast ensured the offensive messages were legibly and audibly distributed to hundreds of thousands of internet users, even before accounting for external reposts.
By publishing the material without condemnation, Giannakopoulos fully adopted, validated, and repeated the defamatory claims as his own personal statements, Olympiacos told the governing body. The club formally requested that EuroLeague open disciplinary proceedings against Panathinaikos and Giannakopoulos, demanding the immediate imposition and announcement of appropriate sanctions.
Domestic filing to Greek league organizers
The second legal action was lodged with ESAKE, the organizing body of the Greek Basket League, pursuant to Article 55 paragraph 3 of the competition disciplinary regulations regarding public defamatory declarations.
This domestic submission centres on early morning online activities that occurred on 23 October 2026 at around 04:00. Olympiacos alleged that Giannakopoulos used his Instagram profile, which currently counts more than 661,000 followers, to launch a series of abusive, threatening, and defamatory statements.
The post featured an image of Bartzokas speaking during an official press conference, overlaid with lengthy written commentary. In the opening lines, Giannakopoulos mocked Olympiacos over past disputes, asking why the club had demanded foreign referees before dropping down to the domestic second division, known as A2, in May 2019.
Giannakopoulos continued by alleging that systemic corruption had now emerged officially in the sport. He questioned why Olympiacos appeared indifferent to the revelations and asked whether those entrusted with club investments had been found in possession of illicit money.
Allegations of physical threats against coach
Olympiacos expressed grave alarm over subsequent remarks in the publication that they described as an overt threat of physical violence against their coach. Giannakopoulos warned the tactician that an episode far worse than a past parking lot altercation was coming, addressing Bartzokas as sarcastic while using an anagram of a crude Greek obscenity.
The legal filing explained that the phrase referred to a distressing confrontation in October 2014 at the Peace and Friendship Stadium parking area. Bartzokas was targeted by an angry mob following a Greek Cup defeat against Panathinaikos, an encounter the coach publicly described as shocking and impossible to forget.
Olympiacos asserted that Giannakopoulos intentionally invoked the traumatic event to incite fresh physical aggression, intimidate Bartzokas, and disrupt his working environment in an effort to damage the team on the court. The complaint urged league authorities to hold both the Panathinaikos owner and the club liable for penalties provided by the disciplinary rulebook.
Defamation of club emblem and judicial claims
The complaint to ESAKE also condemned Giannakopoulos for linking Olympiacos to an ongoing judicial investigation into sports corruption. The probe involves criminal charges under Greek law regarding bribery and the manipulation of basketball games, an inquiry in which referee Vasiliki Tsaroucha was arrested and charged.
In his post, Giannakopoulos urged Olympiacos to place Tsaroucha on their official profile instead of their emblem. The filing stated that this comment falsely portrayed Olympiacos as an accomplice or beneficiary of match manipulation, causing profound harm to the club reputation.
Olympiacos further denounced the owner for using an ancient homosexual slur to describe the laurel-crowned youth depicted on their crest, a symbol the multi-sport institution has preserved for more than a century. The club stated that concluding the post by labelling Olympiacos the disgraced outcasts of Greek sports constituted a calculated and malicious attack on their players, executives, and global supporters.
