Greek deputy sports minister Lefteris Avgenakis on Tuesday requested judicial authorities investigate an alleged attempted rape by a high-ranking member of the country's basketball federation. The request by Avgenakis was made to the prosecutor of the Athens Court of First Instance and involved "attempted rape in 2014, continued sexual harassment, retaliatory behaviour and abuse of power against the person involved". A statement from the federation said: "(The statement) raises questions and suspicions. The competent institutions within the federation will deal directly with the issue. No one is above justice and truth." Greece in recent months has been rocked by a wave of allegations of sexual abuse in the fields of arts, sport and education. But the federation was also quick to defend itself. "Greek basketball is sixth in the world and third in Europe and is not afraid, is not intimidated and is not blackmailed by anyone or anything," the federation said. More than three years after the #MeToo movement surfaced in the United States, the code of silence in Greece was broken in December by a two-time Olympic sailing medallist, Sofia Bekatorou. Bekatorou said that when she was 21 she was subjected to "sexual harassment and abuse" by a senior federation member in his hotel room, shortly after trials for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. le/jc/td