Greek outlet retracts report on Ataman's alleged Fenerbahce quote / News - Basketnews.com

Following Ergin Ataman's furious reaction to a report over his meeting with Tayyip Erdogan, the Greek channel that first made the claim pointed out that no dialogue between the two men about Fenerbahce ever took place.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Last Thursday night and following Panathinaikos AKTOR Athens'loss to Real Madrid for EuroLeague Round 13,head coachErgin Atamanopened the post-game conference with a passionate response to what he deemed as false information circulating in the media.

Points this season

48%81,4Points made:81,4Accuracy:47,6%Place in standings:9Record max:99Record min:68Best scorer:Konstantinos MitoglouTeamEuroLeagueStatisticsSchedule

Earlier that day, Ataman was at the Turkish embassy to welcome Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the two had a half-hour-long discussion.In some reports, however, it was said that they also mentioned Fenerbahce, which made the Turkish coach furious.

In his postgame presser, Ataman clarified the intent and purpose of his meeting with Erdogan during the Turkish president's visit to Greece.

"As you know, today I visited mister President Erdogan [in Athens]. After that, he met with [Kyriakas] Mitsotakis (Greece's Prime Minister). I visited him in the Turkish embassy, and we talked for half an hour," Ataman began.

"And somebody in Greece, some of your friends, they [spread] bulls**t news. They say that he asked me, 'Why you came to Panathinaikos?', and I told him that I came to Panathinaikos to beat Fenerbahce here. It's completely bulls**t," the coach asserted.

"We just talked about the friendship between Turkish and Greek people; we talked about the sports culture in Greece -- Panathinaikos and Olympiacos. I did not say any words about Fenerbahce."

Four days after the incident, Mega, the Greek outlet which had first reported about Ataman's alleged quote on Fenerbahce, retracted on their original information. During the channel's newscast Monday, it was pointed out that- as Ataman said - there was no dialogue between the two men regarding Fenerbahce.

However, Ataman has declared his intention to take legal action against those responsible for spreading the misinformation.

"Okay, that's clear. Which journal, which newspaper wrote this, I will go to court against them," he stressed. "It's completely bulls**t. I want to clarify because this is important to me," he said last Thursday.

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