Referee Ilias Koromilas has been remanded in custody, while Vaso Tsaroucha and Tasos Piloидis have been placed under house arrest with electronic monitoring bracelets and banned from any involvement in basketball. The decision was issued jointly by the investigating magistrate and prosecutor in connection with the match-fixing case. Earlier, all three referees reportedly maintained a stance of denial against the charges brought against them during their appearances before the investigating magistrate, as part of the judicial inquiry into alleged interference and manipulation of games in Greek basketball.
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Greek basketball scandal: What the defendants claimed in their testimonies
Ilias Koromilas, special refereeing advisor to the Hellenic Basketball Federation (EOK), was the first to appear before the magistrate. He faces nine counts of bribing athletes and officials, allegedly in order to serve the interests of Promitheas Patras basketball club. Koromilas denied all charges, arguing that he was never a member of the Central Refereeing Committee (KED) and had no authority over referee appointments, selections, or replacements. He also reportedly claimed that the charges rest primarily on the testimonies of just two individuals, with no objective evidence to substantiate his alleged involvement. Regarding the €102,000 found at his residence, he reportedly stated that the money came from his Euroleague earnings, which exceed €260,000, and that he kept the cash at home due to an ongoing dispute with a relative.
Next to testify was active referee Vaso Tsaroucha, who faces 13 counts of bribery and similarly denied all charges attributed to her. Last to appear was former referee Tasos Piloidis, who faces two separate counts. He reportedly described the claims made against him by the official who implicated him as false and the product of imagination, while simultaneously filing a counter-complaint against that individual. According to available information, he maintained that he received no money in connection with the two games in question, that he has never faced disciplinary action, and that he would never do anything to harm Panagiotis Giannakis, whom he described as a legend of Greek basketball.
