Europe’s top two club basketball competitions have been terminated this season without naming any winners due to the COVID-19 pandemic, organisers EuroLeague Basketball said on Monday.
“Having explored every possible option, the Executive Board has made the decision to cancel the 2019-20 EuroLeague and EuroCup,” the organising body said on its official Twitter account.
The statement added that the 2020-21 EuroLeague and EuroCup seasons will start on October 1 and September 30 respectively, with the same 18 teams that contested this season’s EuroLeague also competing in the next campaign.
Panathinaikos BC OPAP were one of the teams against the complete suspension of the EuroLeague. Source: Sportime.
The two competitions were indefinitely postponed on March 12 and the statement said clubs, players and all stakeholders had been willing to resume action but were unable to do so due to concerns over the health and safety of athletes and staff.
“Without a doubt, this is the most difficult decision we have had to take in our 20-year history,” said EuroLeague’s president and chief executive, Jordi Bertomeu.
“Due to reasons beyond our control, we have been forced to cut short the most successful and exciting season in European basketball history.”
According to media reports, Panathinaikos BC OPAP was one of the teams against the complete suspension of the tournaments, citing a reduction in revenue.
“There are now doubts as to whether we will continue to co-operate with the events in the coming years,” former President of Panathinaikos OPAP, Dimitris Giannakopoulos, told the organising committee of EuroLeague.
At midnight on May 26, churches around Greece are to hold Easter Saturday services after they had been banned in March due to the lockdown.
The faithful are to gather in churches and sing Resurrection hymns and experience the solemn atmosphere of the service.
Churches were reopened on May 17 after an almost two-month lockdown, which resulted in Easter services taking place without congregations.
Meanwhile in Australia, certain churches have re-opened with strict hygiene precautions such as hand sanitiser at the door, and many are only allowing 10 people inside the church and 20 people outside (with social distancing measures enforced).
A court in Athens has ruled in favor of Emmanuel Kypraios, a journalist who became deaf in both ears after riot police threw a stun grenade at him during an anti-austerity protest in June 2011.
“With the decision A8144 / 15-5-2020, a jury condemned the Greek riot police (MAT) for their attack against me on 15/06/2011. A great victory for democracy, the people, the (struggling) press and justice. We stood upright even nine years later,” Kypraios tweeted on Monday.
Καλημέρα! Με την απόφαση Α8144/15-5-2020 η δικαιοσύνη καταδίκασε τα ΜΑΤ για την επίθεση εναντίον μου στις 15/06/2011. Μια μεγάλη νίκη για τη δημοκρατία, τους πολίτες, τον (αγωνιζόμενο) Τύπο και τη δικαιοσύνη. Μείναμε όρθιοι έστω και εννιά χρόνια μετά…#ΜΑΤ#Δικαιοσύνη#ΜΜΕ
His acquittal was sealed by the Three-Member Administrative Court of First Instance of Athens with the identification of the two perpetrators and the conviction of the Greek state.
The experienced war correspondent was covering Greece’s anti-austerity protests in 2011 when riot police fired a stun grenade at him, even though he had identified his journalistic identity to authorities.
Kypraios is deaf in both ears as a result and faces a series of health problems (post-traumatic stress disorder, labyrinthine dysfunction, gait problems), while he has undergone two head surgeries for cochlear implant placement.
The court case:
Kypraios’ case first reached a courtroom in 2017, ending in July 2018 with a preliminary ruling asking the State to provide a copy of the security cameras at the scene, while accepting a request from the police to examine Kypraios by an ENT expert to determine his disability.
The reports of the independent technical experts certified that Kypraios received a stun grenade to the head and is deaf and dumb with serious health problems as a result.
Despite the contrary expertise of the State, the case returned to the courts in September 2019 and eventually ended in favor of the journalist.
The International Federation of Journalists, which represents more than 600,000 members in 141 countries, had fully backed the lawsuit filed by the journalist.
A convicted serial rapist released early from a half-century prison term was under police guard in a Corfu hospital on Monday after suffering severe injuries trying to evade arrest on new rape charges.
Police said Dimitris Aspiotis, 47, would undergo surgery for severe back and leg injuries he suffered after falling off a seaside cliff on Saturday in the island’s southern Lefkimmi area, close to the popular Kavos tourist resort.
The suspect had to be extracted by the fire service and rescue teams brought in by sea.
Dimitris Aspiotis was re-arrested on Saturday after falling off a seaside cliff trying to evade police. Source: Keep Talking Greece.
The arrest followed a two-week manhunt in which more than 100 police, assisted by sniffer dogs, took part. During that time, the suspect, who was armed, is believed to have hidden in a remote area.
On May 9, a woman living in the area with her partner had told police that Aspiotis allegedly abducted her, kept her prisoner in a forest and repeatedly raped her over two days before she was able to escape.
Aspiotis had been convicted in 2012 of raping three female tourists in the same area in the summer of 2010. He was sentenced to a total 53 years in prison.
However, Greek law doesn’t allow convicts to serve more than 25 years in prison and usually release can be secured considerably earlier on health grounds, or if they have worked for a certain part of their sentence in prison workshops.
But Aspiotis was freed after just six years in 2018, under a new law aimed at lessening severe overcrowding in the country’s prisons. That law was heavily criticised when a series of violent criminals were freed after serving a fraction of their terms, and has since been scrapped for cases of rapes and other violent crimes.
Greek media reports said Aspiotis had carried out the 2010 rapes shortly after being released from prison where he had served time for another three rapes.
Police found a loaded hunting rifle, knives and survival equipment cached near where Aspiotis was arrested. Source: Ekathimerini.
Under the terms of his 2018 release, he had been obliged to appear regularly at his local police station and wasn’t allowed to leave the island.
Police said they found a loaded hunting rifle, knives and survival equipment cached near where Aspiotis was arrested.
On Monday morning, children in NSW and Queensland returned to school full-time after more than two months of remote learning. The ACT and Tasmania also began a part-time return to classrooms, with public schools in Victoria to follow suit tomorrow.
Australia reported only six new cases of coronavirus in the 24 hours up to 6.30am on Monday. Of the new cases, two were confirmed in Victoria, three in NSW and one in Queensland.
The Greek Herald contacted two of Australia’s Greek schools to see how students and teachers are feeling about returning to school and what additional safety measures they have in place.
Oakleigh
Grammar, Victoria
“Today we brought back all of our senior school and prep students and we had only seven absences out of 250 kids. That is a strong endorsement from the parents who are sending their kids back to a safe learning environment,” said Oakleigh Grammar principal, Mark Robertson.
“We don’t allow any parents, grandparents or caregivers to come in our campus, our classrooms have been rearranged to maximise the space and ensure appropriate distancing, we are running a different timetable to our normal one and we have reduced the number of students at the playground. We have automatic santisers in the corridors and we have upgraded our cleaning to ensure that we have fully disinfected key areas like door handles and table tops,” Mr Robertson said.
“All of our staff have returned to school. There are lots of smiles on the teachers faces as they know we prioritise their safety, health and wellbeing and they’ve come back feeling very confident about resuming on campus. They are very excited to see their students.”
Asking him about the feedback he
got from students, Mr Robertson replied that all were very excited to be back
in their classrooms.
“Some of them said ‘we are happy to see our friends again’ or ‘remote learning was good but I was lonely because I was by myself’.”
Some of St Spyridon College students returned to school today. Supplied: St Spyridon College.
St Spyridon College, NSW
“Our College implemented a gradual return to school so that all students could have the opportunity to get into their stride, before the return of the whole K-12 school community this morning. We were so happy to see them all! There is something eerily mournful about an empty school,” said St. Spyridon Head of College, Efrosini Stefanou-Haag.
“Throughout the uncertainty caused by the COVID-19, we have seen our teachers quickly develop the “learning from home” program. It has been extraordinary to see how rapidly our teachers moved to the virtual classroom. Our parents have been amazing in their support of teachers. This enabled us to ensure that our students continued to learn at a high level – not just in terms of content, but in terms of critical thinking, creativity and problem-solving.
“As has been widely realised, a school is at the very heartland of its community. There is no substitute for the dynamic, enriching experience that a school creates with and for its students. School is the best place for young people. This is where they can learn, grow and thrive – in mind, body and soul. Coming back to school was even more special as the new Infants School building was ready for children on their return. The new spaces, including the Library, STEM room, Music rooms and classrooms, are welcoming, bright and provide a rich and exciting learning environment for our students.”
St Spyridon College students practicing physical distancing.
St Spyridon College
Year 7 – Reflections of students on returning to school
Evelina
Karedis – “This isolation and distancing made us realise how important
human interaction is…missing our family, friends and school family. But most of all it made us realise how
important the face to face interaction with our teachers is. Isolation made us
appreciate how much work and effort they put in to teach and help us in
class.”
The Melbourne Rebetiko Ensemble returned from “hibernation” over the weekend, with an intimate online performance of Rebetiko music for viewers around the world.
More than 10,000 people tuned in to the Rebetiko concert, which was streamed live on Facebook, where they were treated to songs from the pre and post-war rebetika era.
Works by Vassilis Tsitsanis, Sotiria Bellou and Giorgos Mitsakis were performed, along with original music from the Ensemble’s upcoming CD, ‘To Monopati,’ which is available for digital purchase and download.
Taking part in the online performance were founding members of the Melbourne Rebetiko Ensemble including Stavrina Dimitriou (vocals), Achilles Yiangoulli (vocals/guitar), Dean Georgalas (bouzouki) and Con Kalamaras (baglama/vocals).
Kalamaras told The Greek Herald the concert was a way to remind the Greek community that music matters during this unprecedented time.
“Prior to lockdown, we were playing quite a bit around Melbourne, connecting with people who come to watch us play,” Kalamaras said.
“Music has been the constant thread that has kept us all sane during this unprecedented time. We want to remind our friends and the community that music matters.”
Millions of dollars raised by Celeste Barber’s bushfire campaign cannot be distributed to other charities or states but can be given to injured firefighters, a judge has ruled.
The comedian nominated the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) and Brigades Donation Fund for the $51.3 million raised through her record-breaking Facebook fundraiser in January.
But the deed governing that trust only allows money to be spent on purchasing and maintaining equipment, training and administrative costs.
“Some donors may have intended or hoped that the money they donated would be used for purposes beyond those which the court has advised are permissible,” NSW Supreme Court Justice Michael Slattery said.
“Despite the trustees’ wish to honour those intentions or hopes the law provides principles that ensure a degree of certainty in the application of trust funds including charitable trust funds.”
Justice Slattery ruled the money could be given to the families of fallen firefighters and used for trauma counselling.
However, the court’s decision excluded causes which many donors expected their money to go towards, including the Australian Red Cross and animal welfare group WIRES.
Barber launched the record-breaking appeal on Facebook in January after members of her family were affected by bushfires at Eden, on the NSW south coast.
Her initial goal was to raise $30,000.
Her Facebook fundraising page clearly stated the money was intended for the Trustee for the RFS and Brigades Donation Fund.
Earlier this year the RFS said it wanted to share the money.
“We take the issue of public donations very seriously — and know everyone wants to see the funds distributed quickly and to the right places,” a spokesperson said.
The Greek government is expecting a growth boost to the tune of 1.5-2% of gross domestic product for the next three years through the EU Recovery Fund, if it is approved.
The Fund is the biggest post-lockdown weapon aiding the return to growth, with Greece anticipating at least 8-10 billion euros, while the amount due could be far higher.
Sources say Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, has already spoken with Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen, ahead of the submission of the Commission’s proposal on Wednesday, formed on the basis of a French-German agreement for a €500 million fund.
European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen (left) met with Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis (right), earlier this year.
The Greek government is particularly pleased by the fact the assistance, according to the proposal, will be given in the form of grants and not loans that would add an additional burden to Greece’s national debt. Of course this would need to be approved by Austria, which voiced its opposition from the start, but also by Sweden, Denmark, Finland and The Netherlands.
Another plus for Greece is a provision that the assistance will be allocated on the basis of the damage suffered by each country’s economy as a result of the coronavirus.
Given that Brussels said in its spring forecasts that Greece will experience the biggest GDP reduction in the European Union, it should also get the most support, in proportional terms.
There is a question as to whether the impact on national health systems will be factored in, which would be relatively small for Greece. However, Bloomberg reported recently that Greece would definitely be among the EU states to benefit most.
The fund’s resources will allow the government to finance growth-minded policies that have been pushed aside at this point, such as the reduction of social security contributions.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios held a special prayer service on May 24 at the Cathedral of the Annunciation of Our Lady in Redfern, Sydney, to commemorate the victims of the Greek Pontian genocide.
In a short speech, which was read in Greek and English by Father Nikolaos Bozikis and Father Panagiotis Mavrommatis respectively, His Eminence spoke with emotion and pride about the culture that developed in the blessed land of Pontus, focusing in particular on the flourishing of spiritual and ecclesiastical life.
“We must pass on the cultural heritage of the Pontian Greeks to the younger generations as a legacy of all humanity, of the entire human race,” His Eminence said.
His Eminence Archbishop Makarios held a small memorial and prayer service for the victims of the Greek Pontian genocide. Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
“Because, really, what existed in Pontus was something very unique… it was something wonderful.”
His Eminence then went on to note the historical monasteries and churches which dominated the area of Pontus, including the cradle of Pontic Hellenism, the monastery of Panagia Soumela, and the Temple of the God of Wisdom, in Trabzon.
He also recognised some of the great ecclesiastical figures who decorated the Pontic land, such as the last Metropolitan of Trabzon and later the Archbishop of Athens Chrysanthos, the Metropolitan of Cologne Gabriel and the Metropolitan of Rodopolis Ieronymos.
Representatives from the Pontian Greek community in Sydney attended the service. Source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
In fact, the last two Hierarchs were known personally by His Eminence during his first few years at the Ecumenical Patriarchate.
“I praise God for this blessing and for the spiritual legacy I received from my acquaintance with these truly great figures, with Hierarchs representing a great tradition, Pontic,” he concluded.
The small prayer service was attended by only ten representatives from the Federation of Pontian Associations of Australia, the Pontian Brotherhood Wollongong “O Diogenis,” Pontoxeniteas NSW, and Panagia Soumela Sydney.
Greece’s Culture Minister, Lina Mendoni, has reiterated a long-standing request for the British Museum to return the Parthenon Marbles, ahead of the 11th anniversary of the Acropolis Museum which was purpose-built to house the antiquities.
“It is time for the British Museum to reconsider its stance ahead of the Acropolis Museum’s next birthday, which is on June 20,” Mendoni told private broadcaster Star TV on Saturday.
“Does it want to be a museum that meets and will continue to meet modern requirements and speak to the soul of the people, or will it remain a colonial museum which intends to hold treasures of world cultural heritage that do not belong to it?”
Greece’s Culture Minister, Lina Mendoni (left), visited the Acropolis when it reopened on May 18, 2020. Source: AFP.
The minister said that the reopening of archaeological sites last week was an opportunity for the international committees to reiterate their long-standing request, and that of the Greek government’s, for their return.
“The Parthenon Marbles are a product of theft and therefore, Greece will never recognise ownership and possession by the British Museum,” Mendoni said.
The ancient friezes, which include depictions of battles between mythical ancient Greeks and centaurs, were taken by British diplomat Lord Elgin in the early 19th century and are now on display at the British Museum in London.
Greece has been campaigning for three decades for their return, arguing that the Ottoman Empire was an occupying force and any permission granted to Lord Elgin during its time is not valid.
However, the British Museum continues to refuse to return the Parthenon Marbles.
