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Panathinaikos Receives Ruling from ASEAD: Lepeniotis Removed as ESAKE General Secretary

Published February 16, 2026, 12:31

The ASEAD (Hellenic Supreme Council for Sports Justice) has ruled in favor of Panathinaikos BC in its appeal against ESAKE (Hellenic Basketball Federation), deciding to remove Nikos Lepeniotis from his position as General Secretary. The decision was based on the fact that the ESAKE Board of Directors was obliged to acknowledge Lepeniotis's dismissal after the final imposition of a disciplinary penalty for public statements during last year's finals. The ESAKE Disciplinary Code stipulates the mandatory acknowledgement of dismissal in the event of a disciplinary penalty for defamatory statements. The ESAKE Board of Directors had decided not to apply this provision, which ASEAD deemed illegal, as there was no discretionary power. The ASEAD's decision is final and marks the removal of Nikos Lepeniotis from the position of ESAKE General Secretary. Panathinaikos BC had filed the appeal after ESAKE's refusal to apply the regulation.