Greek League football matches scheduled for the weekend were postponed this Friday after a series of violent episodes involving fans, with the latest incident leaving a police officer in critical condition.
Greek league organizers said the weekend’s games would be postponed after they were unable to find referees for the matches, having decided to go on strike earlier in the week to guarantee safety.
The decision follows a series of violent incidents related to sports, the latest of which occurred Thursday night during a volleyball match between Panathinaikos and Olympiacos, which left nearly 400 detainees and one police officer seriously injured.
“The perpetrators of these terrible crimes have nothing to do with sports… They are common criminals who threaten and sometimes kill lives and destroy property,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said.
During the clashes, fans threw rocks and torches at police, among other things, and a 31-year-old police officer was hit in the thigh, damaging his arteries and causing him to lose blood, causing cardiac arrest.
Among other recorded incidents, last Sunday’s game between Olympiacos and Volos was abandoned due to violence from fans.
“This attack must not and will not go unpunished. This is a matter of enforcing the law and justice. The Greek police have for a long time, like our entire society, paid a high price for fan violence,” he told Giannis. Oikonomou, Minister of Internal Affairs.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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