Player attacks a referee after the match in Greece / News - Basketnews.com

A player attacked a referee after the game in the 3rd League in Greece. He punched him for several minutes. A lawsuit was filed against the offender. The player was subsequently released from the team.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

The job of a referee during basketball games is tough enough on the court. Greek referee Aleksandros Garandziotis was unfortunate to find out that he was not safe from pressure even after the match.

A Greek 3rd League match between Porphyra and Ilioupoli was nothing out of the ordinary. The away team won the match 69-60 and everything seemed normal. However, when two referees headed to go home after the game, one of the players from the home team attacked Garandziotis.

"Leaving the stadium with the other referee, we headed to the place where we had parked [the car]. There I see that the player was waiting for me in his car. As soon as he saw us, he came out and started swearing at us. He immediately took two steps toward me. My colleague tried to hold him back but he got away and started punching me in the face," the referee later told.

"I got away from him for a moment but he came back with more hate and fury and continued to hit me in the face. Then I fell down and while the colleague pushed him away, he came back and started kicking me in the head and body. I managed to get up to avoid further blows and then he made his third attack, ripping my shirt off and continuing to beat me. This all took about five minutes."

The referee had to be taken to the hospital. The second referee headed to the police station and filed a lawsuit against the player.

"I had never met this particular athlete before in a match. During the match, despite the threats he whispered to me, I didn't want to spoil the mood of the match and I didn't punish him with a technical foul," Garandziotis remembered."At some point, he stopped and the colleague asked him 'what did you understand from what you did?'. He replied, 'at least I'll get sued', got into the car, and drove off."

The player was subsequently released from the team.

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