EuroLeague imposes financial penalties on Hapoel Tel Aviv and Dimitris Giannakopoulos

EuroLeague Basketball has issued significant financial sanctions against two entities. Hapoel Tel Aviv received a total fine of 4.8 million euros for violating financial stability regulations, including a 2.8 million euro penalty regarding shareholder funding and 2 million euros concerning its 20 million euro player roster. The club argues that these budget issues stem from the necessity to play games outside Israel due to the ongoing conflict and plans to appeal, citing force majeure. Additionally, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, owner of Panathinaikos AKTOR, was fined a total of 50,000 euros. The penalty consists of three separate fines following his public statements criticizing referees during the 30th round match against Olympiacos. These sanctions were applied based on the EuroLeague disciplinary code articles 24.2.b, 24.2.c, and 24.2.e.