“Fuck you black monkey.” Less than 30 seconds from the end of the Euroleague match between Olympiakos and Valencia, Joseph Bissang interrupts the match. The French referee claims to have heard these racist insults thrown at him from the crowd. The fan concerned is excluded from the stadium grounds in Athens
According to the journalist Konstantinos Melayess of the Gazzetta dello Sport, Bissang indicated that he had received these insults on several occasions. Information notified by the scorer’s table and on the official match sheet.
The culprit banned for life
This Saturday, the French Basketball Federation (FFB) provided “all its support following this unacceptable incident”. The FFB called on the Euroleague and the Greek federation to “take measures consistent with the seriousness of the facts”. After the meeting, Olympiakos had already initiated proceedings to find the author of the insults. Thing done a few hours later. The culprit was banned for life from all of the Greek club’s home matches.
French referee Joseph Bissang was the victim of a racist attack last night in Greece during a Euroleague match. The FFBB would like to provide him with all its support following this unacceptable incident.
She has already asked the Euroleague and the federation… pic.twitter.com/4LrxHmX30m— French BasketBall Federation (@ffbasketball) December 16, 2023
“Olympiakos has always been against all forms and acts of racism. It is for this reason that we unequivocally condemn the verbal attack by a fan of our team against one of the match referees. His subscription is immediately canceled and his entry to the Peace and Friendship Stadium is banned forever,” assures Olympiakos in a press release. For their part, the organizers of the Euroleague have not yet reacted to this incident.
