Match-fixing scandal: €931,463 seized from referees' and Greek Basketball Federation homes
Greek police seized a total of €931,463 and dozens of digital devices during investigations into fixed basketball matches. Six defendants are called to give statements on bribery charges in approximately 50 matches.
€931,463 seized in basketball match-fixing investigation
A total of €931,463 were found and seized in the residences of six defendants as part of an investigation into alleged tampering with basketball matches, according to information reported by Dikastiko.gr citing an official announcement from the Greek Police. Co-ordinated house searches were carried out by the Directorate for Combating Organised Crime in the presence of judicial officials.
According to case file data, the majority of the money — €820,000 — was found in the home of a defendant referee in Pieria. A second residence yielded €102,000, whilst over €8,000 was seized at the premises of the president of the Greek Basketball Federation (EBF), Evangelos Liolios.
In addition to cash, authorities seized extensive digital material: 14 mobile phones, 6 laptop computers, 22 USB storage devices, 2 electronic tablets, memory cards, hard drives and notebooks. Sports jerseys, souvenirs, player albums and banknotes from various countries were also found.
The Financial Crime and Money Laundering Prosecution was notified of the case, in order to conduct the prescribed financial audit.
Statements within three days
The six detainees were brought before the 9th investigative judge, where they were served with indictments for bribery and acceptance of bribes with the aim of altering the results of sports competitions — offences involving a total of approximately 50 matches and prosecuted under sports legislation.
The schedule for statements was distributed as follows: on Friday the former referee in whose home the €820,000 were found will give a statement, on Sunday the EBF president Evangelos Liolios will appear along with a businessman, and on Monday the remaining three individuals involved — an international female referee, a former referee and a staff member of the Greek Volleyball Federation, as well as another former referee — will give statements.
The defendants' claims
All defendants reject the charges through their lawyers. The EBF president Evangelos Liolios categorically denies any involvement, characterises the case as a conspiracy against him and points out that he has filed related complaints since 2022. His defence contends that the case file evidence concerning him is limited to routine notifications on procedural matters, such as referee draws.
Similarly, the side of the former referee in whose Pieria home the largest sum of money was found declares complete denial of the charges. His defence maintains that he possesses all necessary documentary evidence substantiating the professional source and legality of the seized funds.
Suspension of funding to the Greek Basketball Federation
In parallel with developments in the judicial process, the Minister of Sport Giannis Vroutsis decided to impose a provisional suspension of the statutory subsidies to the EBF. The minister also requested an extraordinary fiscal and administrative audit of the financial years 2024, 2025 and 2026, both by the General Directorate of Fiscal Audits of the Ministry of National Economy and Finance and by the National Transparency Authority.
In cases of match-fixing, beyond criminal and disciplinary consequences, the law provides for financial penalties to sports organisations' funding through the annual distribution of gambling profits.
Source: Dikastiko.gr