Liolios: “Our candidacy for EuroBasket 2029 is very serious”

Guest on the show The Game of ERT was found on Saturday afternoon (11/30) o Vangelis Liolios.

The president of the EEC referred to his simultaneous presence Vasilis Spanoulis on the bench of Monaco as well as of the National team, speaking in the best words about the Greek technician and declaring optimism for the successes of the “blue and white” under his instructions.

At the same time, he referred to Greece’s candidacy for Eurobasket 2029 and emphasized that it is a serious and composed proposal.

In detail, what he said on ERT’s “The Game”:

For the beautiful moment shared by Sloukas and Spanoulis before Panathinaikos AKTOR – Monaco: “Spanoulis and Slukas are governed by a relationship. Not only because they used to be teammates, but also from the fact that Spanoulis is currently the coach of the national team and Slukas is his player. So they have an extra reason to hug.

The relationship we have with Vassilis Spanoulis is a relationship based on mutual trust and common love and the common vision we have for the National Team. This is the most important thing and governs all the people who are in the National. We chatted before about this thought which was also my personal opinion, and not just mine, that it is in the right direction for both of these qualities to coexist for the good of all. And of course Vassilis as a coach has the guarantees for this level and that is something extraordinary. Of course it can co-exist with the National Team and as he mentioned, the National Team is always special and first”.

Regarding Spanoulis’ statement about pressure: “This answer shows the mark of Spanoulis the man, Spanoulis the personality and which is much more important than coach Spanoulis, but they coexist in the same personality. Personality is above all else. Man is one, indivisible. This is an element of Spanoulis’ personality, to understand where he is, to understand his fellow man, to understand what he is doing and of course to understand and smell the society”.

On whether Spanoulis can lead the National Team to a major distinction after years: “Yes is the answer. Spanoulis is intertwined with the National Team, with the Greek spirit and DNA of the National Team, which has lived on his skin and is now passing through the skin of the players who are now in the National Team. It conveys the spirit of the winner, the spirit of what the National Team means, the spirit of unity and togetherness. These are essential elements of success and I think the National Team has them. I think that in the next EuroBasket we will aim high”.

For the candidacy submitted by EEC for Eurobasket 2029: “Of course, from the moment we apply, we can hope. The file is very organized and complete. We’ve been working on it for a while. Nobody knew anything. We prefer to act rather than talk. Yesterday, when it became known, everyone understood that our candidacy is very serious. From there, the decision will be made in May, because there are many nominations. We applied for a group and the final stage, but there are many countries interested. It has already been officially stated that Spain is interested in the final phase. I don’t know which other federations are interested. It will be seen very soon. We will support with arguments and a complete file what we want to do, because we believe that in this way we offer not only to our national team, but also to European basketball”.

To eliminate violence in stadiums: “Violence is a social phenomenon and cannot be eliminated through sports. What we all need to do is guard our space and decide if the space of sports is a space of culture or a space that allows violence to flourish. This has to do with personal responsibilities, of teams, clubs, the federation, ESAKE.

We must defend our space and not allow any phenomenon of violence. All cooperating with each other, with the aim of eliminating the phenomena of violence. We ourselves should not give any leeway with our behavior to anyone to find an alibi for such acts of violence. It goes without saying that this has to do with us, it has to do with the cooperation between us. When we are 100% ready to decide that, then yes. We must see in practice that we all want to be away from these phenomena.”

On his own path in basketball: “I started working as a factor in 2004 from Prometheus. Each factor has left its mark. I was and remain one of the hundreds of actors in Greece. What works in Greece is the agent’s love for sports, which starts at his club and then spills over into the public. I don’t have a title to put. I think the other 950 factors have the same love that I had.

Whatever is good for basketball I will do. The unions gave me a strong mandate to change the bad texts. They told me who she is. Without fear and with passion I must implement them. This is what I do and this is what I will do. I’m not going to back down and I’m never going to break my principles. This is obvious. The recent election confirmed the path of basketball. Basketball is developing and will progress very dynamically, at all levels. We all need to understand what the good of the sport is. I’m optimistic.”