Yet more bad news coming out of Greek basketball … last night, Euroleague officials announced that Maroussi BC will not be allowed to play in the big league’s qualifying round games to start on Tuesday. “Euroleague Basketball has been forced to take this decision,” read the official statement from officials in part, “after not having received any of the registration documents from Maroussi BC as required in the competition by-laws.”
EΣAKE officials have reportedly not yet granted Maroussi a license to compete in the domestic league, either, and the club is in a bit of a shambles. Greece’s coach of the year Giorgos Bartzokas has left along with most of last season’s roster, and the league will decide today whether to grant the surprise of 2009-10 an extension to file for a license to compete in 2010-11.
If there’s any good news to come out of this, it’s all felt in the Ukraine. Since “No team will replace Maroussi BC in Qualifying Round 1 against Budivelnik[,] the Ukranian team will automatically advance to Qualifying Round 2.”
Meanwhile, league officials cleared some time to hear the appeal of Olympiacos management, which seeks to have its penalty for actions during the 2010 EΣAKE championship reduced from a whopping nine games without media coverage or ticket sales to an absurd one.
The Reds reportedly requested that the charges related to the game’s forfeiture and inadequate security at the stadium be dismissed and that only the penalty related to fan misbehavior – a one-game blackout plus a €111,000 fine – be levied on the team.
The league’s official site postulates that the penalty will be reduced to five games in a sort of compromise. The decision regarding Olympiacos’ appeal will be announced on (ironically enough) Tuesday.
Tough year to be a Greek basketball fan (unless, of course, you’re backing Panathinaikos)…
