ATHENS — The huge bribery and match-fixing case engulfing Greek basketball reached its next stage on Thursday morning as six suspects linked to the unfolding investigation arrived at the Evelpidon Athens Court for preliminary hearings, where their lawyers immediately requested a postponement.
As anticipated, the defence teams asked for additional time to examine the evidence and the criminal investigator granted the request, allowing a statutory three days to review the case file built by sports prosecutor Apostolis Grammenos.
Under the revised schedule, the suspects will not be heard together early next week but will instead return to court on three separate dates over the coming days to give their official testimonies.
Retired official Petros Papapetrou is scheduled to testify first on Friday, while Hellenic Basketball Federation president Vangelis Liolios and businessman Giorgos Mavraganis are due to follow on Sunday.
Active EuroLeague referee Vasiliki Tsaroucha, refereeing official Ilias Koromilas and retired official Anastasios Piloidis are then set to testify on Monday, as the preliminary phase of the investigation continues.