AEK taking legal action against Joan Plaza for disclosing club's financial woes / News - Basketnews.com

Joan Plaza's quotes on AEK allegedly being late on payments to players, coaches and staff didn't go down well with the Greek club, which informed that they intend to bring the Spanish coach to court for slander.

Credit: FIBA Credit FIBA

After guiding AEK Betsson Athens to the Basketball Champions League Round of 16, Joan Plaza was dismissed by the Greek club last January.

3-pointers this season

32%6,1Points made:6,1Accuracy:31,6%Place in standings:32Record max:12Record min:2Most made 3FGs:Chasson RandleTeamBCLStatisticsSchedule

The coach from Barcelona led his side to a 5-1 record in Group D of the BCL regular season. However, the fourth straight loss across all competitions that came at the hands of Promitheas Patras and the team's poor domestic tally (6-9 at the time) made Plaza's place on the bench shaky.

AEK were hit by injuries and departures, as Mfiondu Kabengele, Ben McLemore and Mindaugas Kuzminskas had to either leave the club or spend several weeks off the court. Currently placed 8th in the Greek league with a 7-11 record, AEK are struggling to end a four-game losing streak in the BCL and a 0-3 in their Round of 16 group which threatens to derail another campaign.

Almost five weeks after parting ways with the 2018 BCL winners, Plaza shared part of his experience in an interview withEsports BDN. The 61-year-old tactician addressed his former team's financial hardships, which resulted in ΑΕΚ accumulating 6 FIBA bans (curently reduced to one). Plaza revealed that late payments could go as far as seven months on some occasions.

"It's surprising that in 2024 things like this could happen. I thought they were reality only 30 years ago," the two-time EuroCup winner said.

"They were late two months in payment for me and the American players, four months for the Greek players, and seven months for the staff. And they were expecting the same, whether [we were] being paid or not," he added.

A few hours after the interview came out, AEK responded with a press release, informing that they will take legal action against their former head coach.

"Out of respect for his past career, and because we deliberately chose not to reveal the incidents that caused the 'divorce', we're not going to respond directly to what our former coach stated," the release reads.

"Although it surprises us why he chose to speak now, after so long, and as out team is entering a series of crucial games," AEK continued and pointed out that "Immunity for slanderers is over."

"Those who like monster lies and oppose the interests and dignity of AEK will now be brought to justice. Our former coach will be the first to suffer the consequences of the law, at his own risk. After the end of the season, we will take a detailed look at what happened or what didn't happen. For now, we have to focus on our goals."

The Greek club also informed that more details about the form of the legal action will be given shortly.

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