Filed under: Euroleague, Sports Business and Media, ULEB
Greece's basketball season is off to a terrible, terrible start. If you're worried about the NBA's labor issues, the Greeks have lapped their American counterparts in terms of sheer absurdity.The players union for Greek's league called a strike last week. One problem: Not everyone was on board. Players for the top-drawer teams -- Panathinaikos and Olympiakos -- broke picket lines to play as the league opened. Panathinaikos, which has won eight straight Greek titles and won Euroleague in 2009, played against PAOK Thessaloniki Saturday. PAOK, however, is captained by Lazaros Papadopoulos, the president of the players union.
So how did PAOK handle it? Did the team refuse to play? Well, most of the team -- every Greek player on the roster -- refused to dress. Five players on the roster who aren't Greek natives (including four Americans) did play. Panathinaikos still went ahead, and beat PAOK by 47 points. But that doesn't mean Papadopoulos and his striking teammates didn't show up to the arena. They did, in street clothes, apparently to confront Panathinaikos' players, and were met by riot police. Papadopoulos was reportedly arrested later at an airport.
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Source: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/10/24/greek-basketball-in-labor-turmoil/
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