Greek sports disciplinary sanctions

Disciplinary bodies in Greek sports have issued various bans and fines following incidents involving club officials and social media conduct.

In the Stoiximan Super League, the disciplinary body imposed 15-day stadium bans on Aris FC president Thodoris Karypidis and Kifisia FC president Christos Pritsas. These sanctions resulted from a verbal altercation between Karypidis and Kifisia supporters during a match. This incident follows a prior 15-day ban for Karypidis related to a separate confrontation.

In Greek basketball, Panathinaikos BC owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos received a 10-month ban from sports venues and a 60,000 euro fine. An ESAKE athletic judge issued the ruling after Giannakopoulos allegedly used an Instagram post to insult the Olympiacos emblem and its coach, while also insinuating Olympiacos BC was involved in criminal proceedings. Panathinaikos BC was also fined 30,000 euros. The judge rejected arguments that the post was an error, noting it remained online for several hours. This penalty brings Giannakopoulos’s cumulative ban to 29 months, meaning he may not return to stadiums until November 2028. Olympiacos has stated it considers the sanction extreme and intends to appeal.

Furthermore, the EuroLeague has launched an independent disciplinary proceeding against Giannakopoulos following a complaint from Olympiacos. This separate case concerns the social media sharing of fan chants and banners from a recent EuroLeague match against Baskonia.

In a related legal matter, Margarita Thanou, a member of the Panathinaikos Board of Directors, was acquitted of charges regarding defamatory public statements. The judge ruled that her televised comments constituted a personal opinion regarding controversial refereeing decisions rather than a disciplinary violation.