Authorities announced on Tuesday the postponement of the Greek Cup final, as
there was not enough time to arrange for the presence of fans for Sunday, in what seems like a reflection of Greek authorities' ineptitude. The General Secretariat for Sports had insisted that the basketball final between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos at the court of Elliniko be attended by pupils only, for fear of fan clashes after the football derby that ended in violence on February 19.
However, the Ministry of Education, that had undertaken a week earlier the responsibility of distributing 3,000 tickets to the cup final to schools, suddenly said on Monday that it was unable to do so.
An emergency meeting on Tuesday saw complete disagreement among the parties concerned, with the General Secretariat for Sports insisting on pupils, the Hellenic Basketball Federation asking for just a few hundred fans to come into the stands, as had happened in previous years, the police saying it was unable to control the crowds, Olympiakos offering to bring in 500 children from its academies and Panathinaikos calling for the final's postponement.
Eventually it was the latter solution that was chosen - which suits the Greens just as well given that they would have to play a final just three days after a crucial game for the Euroleague, against Malaga in Spain on March 3.
Interestingly, press reports suggested that there were hardly any teachers who would undertake to go along with their pupils to a basketball match in the middle of the Carnival weekend...
Olympiakos managing director Christos Stavropoulos said the decision was "scandalous" after leaving the meeting.
A new date for the final will be decided at a later meeting, whose date is also unknown. Yet the calendar of both clubs is so full that the next available date is likely to be almost two months away, on April 30.
What is more, the decision means that there will be no basketball action on the weekend of March 5-6, as the league resumes on March 9.
