The 2026 EuroLeague Final Four in Athens faced security flaws inside the Telekom Center. Technical failures forced staff to admit fans without scanning tickets, while low security presence led to fan confrontations and safety issues that disrupted the official pre-game broadcast and VIP areas.
Credit: Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
Credit Panagiotis Moschandreou/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
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Before the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four in Athens, everyone talked about unprecedented security measures.
Compared to previous Final Fours, security personnel had nearly doubled to over 1,000 staff members, with twice the usual number of police officers patrolling the streets.
EuroLeague also applied strict ticketing rules requiring ID and its full info, including the document number, and enhanced security measures, including:
Multiple ticket verification checkpoints ID profiling procedures Thorough body and personal item searches conducted by Police authorities and security personnel
Yet it seemed that all this high-level security was limited to the gigantic OAKA territory and the surrounding city, rather than the Telekom Center itself.
But even the ticketing check didn’t work as intended. Per BasketNews sources in attendance on Friday, VIP ticket holders waited nearly thirty minutes to enter due to scanning failures.
Eventually, after the issue wasn’t resolved, the fans were admitted without having their tickets scanned.
As was widely reported, the ticketing issues had occurred well before the games, too. Many fans who bought tickets directly from the official quotas allocated to their teams struggled to receive their tickets for the games.
Gazzetta reported that some fans had received tickets for Sunday’s final instead of Friday’s semifinals.
Meanwhile, during the first semifinal game between Olympiacos Piraeus and Fenerbahce Beko Istanbul, many people were seen sitting on the stairs.
Credit Tolga Adanali/Euroleague Basketball via Getty Images
Right before halftime, a verbal conflict escalated when Olympiacos fans began waving the historical flag of Mani in front of Fenerbahce supporters. Long associated with rebellion and warrior culture in southern Greece, the Mani flag carries strong symbolic weight and has anti-Turkish connotations.
Fortunately, the incident didn’t escalate further, but the lack of security was noticeable, as no more than two security guards approached the group of 20 to 30 people.
BasketNews sources seated in the VIP area of the lower bowl at Telekom Center also noted a low number of security personnel and numerous security breaches that one would expect at such an event.
According to the same sources, fans in the VIP zone were enjoying their drinks from actual glasses, not plastic cups or similar alternatives. Given how close those fans are seated, those glasses could have easily reached the court if thrown.
In one instance, two men and a child were spotted sharing a single seat.
Even the EuroLeague’s pre-game show didn’t go smoothly.
Alperen Sengun was greeted by boos upon entering the Telekom Center, and another incident occurred shortly after the Houston Rockets superstar reached the pre-game set.
A TV crew member confiscated another Mani flag, causing tensions to boil over. Irritated Olympiacos fans booed the action, and one spectator threw a drink toward the studio desk.
Eventually, one of the hosts, Speros Dedes, straight-up allowed Alperen Sengun to leave the studio due to safety concerns.
“Alperen, it’s getting a little dangerous in here, so we’re gonna let Alperen go,” Dedes said.
Overall, Sengun spent just over four minutes in the studio. I won’t pretend that I know what the initial plan was, but I believe the EuroLeague would have loved to have one of the best European players for longer than that.
Of course, setting up a studio next to die-hard Olympiacos fans was certainly a choice, but it also showed the security flaws inside the arena.
In the end, despite all the promises of unprecedented security, the 2026 EuroLeague Final Four exposed a gap between preparation on paper and control inside the arena itself.
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Edvinas Jablonskis began his basketball coverage career in 2017. Starting as a Daily Writer for BasketNews.lt, he steadily climbed the ranks and became a Daily Editor for BasketNews.com in 2021, a position he continues to hold.
Over the years, Jablonskis has covered multiple EuroLeague Final Fours and international tournaments, including the FIBA EuroBasket, FIBA Basketball World Cup, and FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
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