Giannakopoulos: “Sport unites, regardless of religion and nationality – The goal is always the top”

A cultural, social and sporting event was characterized by “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” o Dimitris Giannakopoulos at the press conference before his big match Panathinaikou on Saturday at “Kallimarmaro”.

“I welcome you to the 6th “Pavlos Giannakopoulos” tournament. This year is somewhat different. We have the best teams in Europe and I thank them. But it’s not just a tournament, it’s a cultural, social and sporting event. We will be playing in Kallimarmaro for the first time since 1968. Thanks to all the organizers. I hope the weather is good and 40,000 enjoy something special. I am among friends. Years of relationship with Maccabi, we fight for the good of basketball. Thanks to Efes who keeps coming. I saw Ataman in blue and said I wanted to see him in green. And that happened. And this choice was crowned with success. I keep at the end of Partizan and my big brother Zeliko, who always responds wherever he is. My father had an office at home that I have left as it was. The photos are probably more with Zeliko than with me. I wish the teams good health and success. Sport is about uniting. We do not look at countries, religions. We want to make people come to the stadium, leave with hugs“, he said.

Asked if he had imagined that Panathinaikos would reach this level commercially and competitively, he answered: “I see that there is growth, basketball is growing. When I decided to invest again, money, time, energy, the goal was always the top. That’s why I chose Ergin and these players. If you ask me if I thought we would go to the top in a year, yes I did. Because without faith you can’t go anywhere».

Regarding whether he is thinking of establishing the tournament in “Kallimarmaro” he said: “Kallimarmaro is historical. I hope from next year OAKA will be fully ready as a state-of-the-art stadium to host every tournament and teams from the NBA, from everywhere».

As for whether the investment in OAKA is aimed at some kind of payback or if for the world of Panathinaikos it can destroy everything as his father, Pavlos, used to say, he commented:Both can be done. You can do the best for the people of Panathinaikos and it can also be an investment. A few years ago I said that it makes no sense to throw money into a hole in basketball. Basketball is a business that must operate with rules and there must be an experience for the fans».