Jailed Greek basketball official Ilias Koromilas threatened a female referee and orchestrated her removal from international duty after she refused to drop a defamation complaint, according to sworn testimony.
The female official, who had held an international licence since 2021, gave evidence to a public prosecutor in early October detailing months of administrative pressure and exclusion from matches.
Koromilas is currently held in pre-trial detention as a central defendant in an extensive judicial investigation into Greek basketball.
Altered photograph and initial complaint
The dispute began in April 2023 when the referee was alerted to an image circulating online that displayed a deeply offensive phrase directed at her.
According to her testimony, the photograph had been digitally manipulated. She had originally sent a personal picture containing a lighthearted comment with her name beneath it to a private contact, but the image was altered to insert an abusive remark.
The official reported the post to senior officials at the Hellenic Basketball Federation, the governing body known as EOK. She also consulted Pantelis Eleftheriadis, then the president of the Greek Basketball Referees Association, who advised her to take legal action.
She subsequently filed a criminal complaint with the Patras Prosecutor's Office against all responsible individuals. She also notified EOK president Vangelis Liolios about the matter, but testified that federation leadership offered no meaningful reaction or intervention.
Pressure to drop legal action
The judicial inquiry gathered pace on April 1, 2024, when the Patras prosecutor formally summoned three female referees as criminal suspects in connection with the defamatory post.
Shortly after the summonses were issued, Koromilas contacted the complainant by telephone. At the time of the call, he did not hold an official administrative position within EOK.
According to the referee's testimony, Koromilas stated that he had received orders from federation management to resolve the conflict. He urged her to withdraw her criminal complaint for her own good and for the good of everyone, insisting that incidents of that nature should not happen within refereeing circles.
When she refused to drop the charges, Koromilas warned her of direct professional consequences. He allegedly told her that the mess would be stopped and that referees who behaved in that manner would disappear from the sport.
Sidelined from national and local games
The official experienced immediate administrative blowback after rejecting Koromilas's demand. She was omitted entirely from officiating appointments for the very next weekend of competitive fixtures.
The sporting ban deepened over the following months. She was kept off the schedule for national league matches for approximately six months and remained excluded from local division competitions for two months.
In her sworn deposition, the referee stated that her local officiating association was explicitly informed that the directive to leave her off match appointments came directly from Koromilas.
By contrast, the three female colleagues summoned by the prosecutor as suspects continued to receive regular match appointments without interruption. Two of those three suspects were later formally indicted on criminal charges of insult to personality, a case that remains pending before the courts.
International status blocked at FIBA
The complainant testified that her situation deteriorated further in December 2024, after Koromilas was officially appointed as special refereeing consultant to EOK.
In that federation role, Koromilas drew up and submitted recommendations to FIBA, the world governing body of basketball, for the renewal of international officiating credentials.
Koromilas recommended licence renewals for her colleagues but excluded her name from the submission. As a consequence, she became the only Greek female official stripped of her international FIBA status.
Following her exclusion, the referee consulted Davorin Nakic, the head of refereeing at FIBA. Acting on Nakic's advice, she formally petitioned the international governing body to request an explanation for the decision.
FIBA subsequently demanded formal clarifications from EOK. The Greek federation responded by referring the matter to its internal Ethics Committee for review.
