Vassilis Spanoulis of Olympiacos, the Turkish Airlines Euroleague MVP, was honored before Thursday's game at Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus with the prestigious Giuseppe Sciacca International Award for Sport. This ìnternational prize recognizes people between 18 and 35 years old who, in their lives or in their fields of activity, have distinguished themselves as commendable role models in society and provide an example for future generations.

This year's was the 12th edition of the awards, which recognize honorees in nine different disciplines, in addition to two special awards. The awards are sponsored by the Vatican, where a ceremony was held earlier this week that Spanoulis attended by video-conference.

On Thursday, before Olympiacos played Galatasaray Liv Hospital Istanbul, Spanoulis was presented his award by the internationally acclaimed Greek film director Giannis Smaragdis and by Vicky Bafataki, General Secretary of the awards, in the presence of the president of the International Giuseppe Sciacca Awards, Bruno Lima, and the representative of the presidency's youth section, Fabrizio Marsili.

"This is a special night for me because of the award I have been honored with," Spanoulis said after the game. "I feel thrilled for the trophy and the good words I heard about myself, but I am also very proud for the principles I got from my family. I am following this path in my personal life and in my professional career in basketball. This award represents Olympiacos and the whole country."