Giannakopoulos lashes out after Papagiannis decision to join Fenerbahce / News - Basketnews.com

Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos accused Georgios Papagiannis of backtracking from an agreement with Panathinaikos, claiming that Fenerbahce offered€200 thousand more than the Greek powerhouse.

Credit: Vangelis Stolis Credit Vangelis Stolis

Panathinaikos Athens owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos didn't take Georgios Papagiannis' decision to join Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul lightly.

Georgios Papagiannis

Position:CAge:26Height:218 cmWeight:125 kgBirth place:Marousi, GreeceProfileNewsStatistics

On Friday morning, Papagiannis informed Panathinaikos that he would accept an offer from Fenerbahce, and Giannakopoulos posted several stories on Instagram reacting to the news.

Giannakopoulos accused Papagiannis of backtracking from an agreement with Panathinaikos, claiming that Fenerbahce offered €200 thousand more than the Greek powerhouse.

"I really don't know what else to expect in my life. I've seen it all now, everything. His parents bring a 15-year-old child to your house and tell you: 'Please, president, we are handing him over to your hands. Take care of him for us.' We've never supported or cared for any athlete as much as we did for him during those 8-9 years he was here. Maybe only Nikos Pappas, to be honest.

He was the first one we wanted to sign since last April. We offered him €1.1, 1.2, 1.3 million [for a three-year-deal] despite him not having a good season. Because we wanted him here because we loved him. He was playing the waiting game for 4-5 months and then asked for €1.3 and 1.7 million for two years, no less. In the end, I accepted it and told him okay.

And when I told him so, he said to me: 'You know, even though I didn't let you know, I've told Itoudis I would go to Fenerbahce. But, since I didn't inform [the club], the right thing for me to do is stay here. Okay, I'll stay here. Give me 5 minutes to call Itoudis and let him know.'

You send him the contracts, and you wait. It's past 6 in the morning. So, instead of receiving the contracts, they call you back and say, 'You know, my mommy and daddy won't let me stay in Panathinaikos. They want me to go to Itoudis because they're giving me €200 thousand more.' What can I say? Anyway, good luck, Georgios.

And because justice and truth are two fighters who never lose, you, Dimitris, who was here for 13 years and became a man, while the athlete has no offer bigger than €700 thousand from anywhere around Europe, you're making a partnership with Giorgos' agent - everyone in Turkey and Greece knows it - offering 1.6 million just to share the agent's fee," Giannakopoulos wrote.

Giannakopoulos also indirectly suggested that Fenerbahce don't want to release Tyler Dorsey simply because he has an offer from Panathinaikos.

"One more thing. An athlete we want to sign, an athlete who has come up to you and said he doesn't want to play for you, you're not letting him go because you heard that he's going to Panathinaikos. What if he were to go somewhere else?" Giannakopoulos concluded.

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