New video of chaos in Athens, Ergin Ataman went crazy: “Who is this? What are you doing in my dressing room? Call security!” /VIDEO/

Panathinaikos’ basketball players, with a 95:79 victory over Maccabi in the second match of the Euroleague playoffs, tied the series at 1:1 in victories. However, the entire series is taking place in the shadow of the electrified atmosphere and tensions that culminated after the second game in Athens.

After the match, there was chaos in the corridors of the OAKA Arena in Athens. First, a video appeared showing Mathias Lesor arguing with someone, all in front of the people of Panathinaikos and media representatives.

That situation was soon resolved, and now a new video has appeared showing the coach of the home team, Ergin Ataman, shouting furiously:

– What are you doing in my dressing room? Who is this character? – Ataman shouted.

What are you doing in my dressing room? What are you doing in my dressing room? Who is this? Call security!

Ergin Ataman

Israeli media reports that the Ataman clashed with a certain Benny Buckle, a close friend of one of Maccabi’s owners, Shimon Mizrahi.

Ataman also revealed at the press conference immediately after the match that he had received open threats.

– Someone from Maccabi, I don’t know who – he didn’t have accreditation – told me: You will see in Israel, you will see what the Zionists will do to you – Ataman said.

The third match is on the program in Belgrade on Tuesday at 19:00.

Ataman was angered by the question about the decision of the Euroleague

After Panathinaikos lost the first game, the coach of the Greek team made a series of statements against the referees. He opposed the Euroleague’s decision to make a statement about it.

After starting the press conference after the victory in the second game in a rather mild tone, Ataman became angry after hearing a question about the Euroleague announcement. It stated that disciplinary proceedings were initiated against the famous coach.

Have you ever seen a statement from an organization against a coach because he was critical? You are journalists, you follow many sports, football, volleyball. I’m a coach, I’m a man. If someone makes a mistake, it’s my job to communicate and let people know about the mistakes. I’m not an ‘underground’ person, I’m direct. Sometimes I am direct and public against my players, sometimes I am direct against my club. Sometimes, against ourselves, publicly, because we are engaged in public business.

I’m not underground to talk to people on the phone, to talk to judges. For me, these referee decisions were not good. I have to show the people, you, the journalists, I have to say that I am not happy with the refereeing and the bad decisions. That’s what I did, and I know that there is a penalty for that in the rules of the Euroleague. I know about this and I am ready to pay this penalty. It is very strange that one of the big organizations that I always protect made a statement against me that I damaged the image of the Euroleague. Very weird.

If I got something wrong, ok, it’s in the archive. I was talking about the judges, you can punish me, why are you making a statement against me? Why are you provoking some people against me? What happened now? When I went to the locker room, someone from the Maccabi staff, I don’t know who it was, and he was without accreditation, told me ‘We will see in Israel, we will see what the Zionists will do to you.’ Come on, I’m Ergin Ataman, I’m the coach of Panathinaikos, I’m the coach of the Turkish national team, I’m a Turkish citizen, you can’t do anything to me!

Please, Euroleague, you can punish me, but why are you making a statement against me? Why? OK, the club made a statement against the Euroleague. OK, they can also make a statement against the club. I was not critical of the organization of the Euroleague. I was just criticizing the judges’ decisions. If something happens in the future, I will be critical of the decisions of the Greek judges. If there is some penalty, fine. But why the statement against me from the Euroleague?

I am not an ordinary person. I have been coaching in the Euroleague for more than 15 years, I have won two Euroleague titles. I am a two-time winner of the Euroleague. I coached more than 300 games in the Euroleague. I am not stupid. I just shared my opinion with a Greek journalist because people want to know why I am angry about the trial. Then I was sent an opinion about all this from the referee organization of the Euroleague. I have it, but I won’t share it with you. But I’m also waiting for them to share it with you, with the public.

When I saw their opinions, they accepted many, many wrong decisions for both us and them. But I ask – what about the judges? For the next matches, these referees will be on the field again. This is my opinion. This summer, when I was in the hospital for 10 days, I was called by the Euroleague for a commercial for Euroleague TV. They told me: ‘Coach Ataman, please come, you are a very important person for the Euroleague.’ I’m going there, I’ll be there in five seconds, five seconds. I left my team here, I was sick for 10 days in the hospital, everyone knows I went there after two days. I respect Euroleague, I expect all people to respect me. Punishment for talking about the referees? OK. What I did was coordinated with President Yanakopoulos. I don’t do anything alone. That is all.

Ergin Ataman

Euroleague announcement

Basketball EuroLeague would like to express its disappointment regarding the public statements of Mr. Ergin Ataman, head coach of Panathinaikos, and the club itself, as well as other events that occurred after the 1st game of the EuroLeague playoffs.

Such actions and statements are in complete contradiction to the joint position of the Basketball Euroleague, the Board of Directors of the Euroleague, the Association of Euroleague Players and the Union of Basketball Coaches of the Euroleague, as of April 15, 2024, because they create an unnecessary and unjustified conflict. These four organisations, representing their member clubs, coaches, players and officials, have pledged to prevent this from happening.

Coach Ataman’s statements are deliberately misleading and incorrect – they give an incorrect analysis of the game and a carefully selected number of moments, it is an attempt to question the work and integrity of the officials, this is also putting additional pressure on them and on the organization of the league – attempts that obviously will not reach your goals.

Unfortunately, these statements were not presented to Euroleague basketball officials through existing official channels, which are always open to Coach Ataman, his club and every other club and coach in the competition.

Such behavior will not be tolerated by the Euroleague. Disciplinary proceedings have already been initiated, as well as for events related to a training session that was supposed to be open to the media on Wednesday, April 24, 2024, when Mr. Ataman prevented journalists from performing their duties.

Basketball EuroLeague’s respect for the organization, community and legacy of Panathinaikos is unquestionable, and is equal to that of all other clubs in the competition. The events that took place after the first leg of the EuroLeague play-offs run counter to the principles of respect between the clubs, the organization they all manage and the values ​​the competition aims to promote.

EuroLeague Basketball encourages Coach Ataman, Panathinaikos and all other clubs and individuals to avoid similar statements and behavior in future games, and to promote the values ​​that EuroLeague competition represents, creating a positive atmosphere around games and celebrating incredible effort and action on the court.

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