Panathinaikos protest for supposedly missed calls during Bacon's attack

2022-12-05 20:10

Panathinaikos Athens claim there were two refereeing errors made during the last possession when Dwayne Bacon attempted a possibly-game-winning triple.

Credit: Screen capture

Credit Screen capture

Dwayne Bacon missed a last-second one-legged three-pointer against Olympiacos Piraeus that could've won Panathinaikos Athens the game. After the game, the guests at the Peace and Friendship Stadium were not ready to let it go that easily.

With 4.1 seconds to go, Bacon received the ball in the backcourt and dribbled past Sasha Vezenkov and Thomas Walkup. Panathinaikos now say that the president of the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK), Vangelis Liolios, should take responsibility for the calls the referees supposedly missed during those four seconds.

The team released an announcement where Liolios' words are cited where he suggests that he would take responsibility if there were any critical refereeing errors during any of the derbies.

Dwayne Bacon

Team:	Panathinaikos Athens
Position:	SG, SF
Age:	27
Height:	201 cm
Weight:	100 kg
Birth place:	Florida, United States of America

Panathinaikos later suggest that Liolios should take responsibility for the two supposedly missed calls against Bacon. First, a non-call against Sasha Vezenkov when the Panathinaikos forward started the dribble and then against Thomas Walkup for a supposed push in the back when Bacon attempted the three-pointer.

"Panathinaikos expect to see how the President of the EOK will take responsibility for the alteration of the result that took place in tonight's match at the Peace and Friendship Stadium," the statement reads.

After some time, the owner of Panathinaikos, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, chimed in on Instagram as well, posting a photo of Walkup potentially fouling Bacon during his shot that pulled the game within a single point with 5 seconds to go.

Giannakopoulos cited the names of the Greek Prime Minister (Kyriakos Mitsotakis), the Deputy Minister for Sports (Lefteris Avgenakis) and the Greek Basketball Federation (EOK). "This is Liolios basketball," he wrote in his post.