Bertomeu: 'I had a thousand reasons to go to court against Giannakopoulos' / News - Basketnews.com

Jordi Bertomeu said he always understood that Dimitris Giannakopoulos played a character due to fan pressure in Greece.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Panathinaikos Athens owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos has been an avid critic of the EuroLeague throughout the years. With the league even issuing fines for him, the relationship between DPG, as he's known in Greece, and the organization hasn't been the best, to say the least.

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For example, Giannakopoulos once claimed that former EuroLeague CEO Jordi Bertomeu was stealing money and that he could prove it. The extravagant owner was later fined €70,000.

Several months later, Giannakopoulos was issued a fine double the size of the previous one - €140,000, also for the comments against the league and the referees.

Bertomeu recently sat down on the Spanish podcast Tirando a Fallar where he talked about his relationship with the flamboyant Panathinaikos owner. Although he could have found a thousand reasons to go to court against him, Bertomeu admits that it was all basically a show.

"The relationship we have always had has been very friendly and it was especially with his father," the former EuroLeague CEO said. "It's obvious what he does with his outbursts. Due to the pressure of the fans in Greece, the situation requires him to fight and always look for someone to blame."

"On a personal level, I always understood the game he was playing when he lost a game and had to say that Jordi was influencing the referees," he admitted.

Bertomeu has previously mentioned that he had a good relationship with Giannakopoulos, claiming that the owner is different in an informal setting from the persona he portrays publicly.

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