Greek Basketball Erupts as Panathinaikos Leaders Hit With Year-Long Bans

On the day of Game 5 in the Greek league final between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, the Athens club suffered a major setback when a court handed club owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos and the partner of star Kendrick Nunn, Blen Kiya, year-long bans from all sports venues in Greece, along with heavy fines.

Kiya’s punishment stemmed from a chaotic Game 4 at the OAKA arena, which went to two overtimes. Reports said she verbally attacked referee Petros Papapetrou and grabbed his sleeve. Panathinaikos refused to cooperate with authorities and did not remove her from the front-row area, so the club was also ordered to play two home games behind closed doors.

Giannakopoulos was separately banned for a year and fined 50,000 euros over what the league described as a harsh Instagram attack on the referees during the series. Officials said his comments seriously damaged the sport’s image, and Panathinaikos was fined another 50,000 euros for his conduct.

Altogether, after the incidents in Game 4, which also included fan disturbances near the front rows and by the bench, Panathinaikos was hit with total fines of 190,000 euros and a three-game home ban without spectators, including a previous suspended penalty. The sanctions were announced only hours before the decisive Game 5, deepening the already intense rivalry between Greece’s two biggest clubs.