Fasoulas: “No change on Lioliou-Candidate in the next elections as well”

His candidacy in the next EEC elections, in 2024, was announced by Panagiotis Fasoulas. The veteran center harshly criticizes the Vangelis Liolio talking about schemes, micro-politics and no change. At the same time, he states that he will abstain from the meetings of the Board of Directors as he believes that democratic procedures are not being followed.

The announcement:

The combination “BASKETBALL FIRST” was not a contemporaneous gathering of people, aiming to take advantage of the time gap and appear on the center stage of the venue. It was and is the meeting of basketball protagonists, who care about the sport, who have a lot to offer, who are here to contribute developmentally, as they have consistently done for years now.

Therefore, anyone who attempts to approach the philosophy of the members of the combination “BASKETBALL FIRST” in electoral terms, anyone who believed that we would be disappointed and give up the effort, anyone who rushed to celebrate that he … “got away from us”, will be bitterly refuted. We are here and we will be here, during the next elections, and after them.

Many wondered “where has #Fassoulas been for so long, why doesn’t he come out to speak”. As a basketball player, as a politically minded person and as… Panagiotis #Fassoulas, I had to give the required time to the new administration, to implement its program, to be consistent with its announcements, to bring a technocratic revolution and more air to the basketball. This was dictated by my sports culture and culture.

Unfortunately, the expectations of those who believed the words of Vangelis Lioliou were bitterly denied. We expected it, but we gave a reasonable period of time for them to implement some of what they said. We didn’t expect a basketball rebuild, or weekly courts to open, but at least a wind of change.

There has been no change and there will be no change. We had a change of persons, but also methods, which are in no way different from the past. We will have time to say all this, to highlight the pathologies of an administration that heralded a “new era” and ended up managing the wealth of the top sport in the country in terms of micropolitics and microaccounting.

Everything in its time. As of today, we are “present” in the fight for the real turning of the page in the Hellenic Basketball Federation.

A constant and eternal struggle, a struggle of conflict, but also of co-operation. We salute the agents, who thicken the lines of the “Basketball First” combination, who take a brave step, small for them, big for the sport we serve.

As a first act, which shows the decision to move to the next phase, is my decision to abstain from the meetings of the Board of Directors, but also the General Assembly, as it is planned. It is a conscious political decision, which aims to show that the democratic processes of control and joint decision-making have turned into a bad show, with a poorly acted monologue and applause without an opinion.

Boards of Directors cannot be held during working hours, as if all of us are employees of the president, or retirees, who have no other work to do. The General Assembly cannot be held at the discretion of remote electronic participation.

Here we are vertical: From the moment covid has ceased to be a pandemic, from the moment all measures have been lifted, collective decisions must be made with collective lifelong participation, which is why we will not accept Zoom General Meetings , with electronic participation. All decisions, let alone elections, will be MANDATORY for life. For more reasons than one.

I stay away from the Boards of Directors, because I do not intend to legitimize by my presence decisions, but also procedures, which insult the sport, which are cut and sewn to the measures of an administration, which – I repeat – chooses the monologue.

I will be “present” everywhere, where the beat of the basketball meets the beat of our hearts. I will be “present”, along with all those who believe and want basketball to become great again. I will be “present” at every union claim.

For all of us, “Basketball First” was not and is not a slogan. It’s an attitude of life.