April 19 – Fearing a repetition of fan violence that has plagued Greek football for years, the country’s cup final next month will be held partially behind closed doors after the national federation failed to find a venue overseas.
The high-profile fixture between AEK Athens and PAOK will be held in the central city of Volos with a reduced number of spectators attending by invitation only, Greek Football Federation deputy director Stergios Antoniou said Tuesday.
“This issue has troubled us a lot … The cup final should be a celebration of football,” Antoniou told Metropolis radio.
The federation had announced earlier this month that the May 20 fixture would be held in Cyprus but the island’s police force shot down the plan days later, arguing that they could not provide sufficient security.
Greek federation officials revealed that they had also approached associations in England, Germany and even Australia to seek venues for the final.
Last year’s Greek cup final when Panathinaikos beat PAOK 1-0 was just one example of the continuing crowd trouble, marred by rival fans throwing flares and clashing with police inside the Olympic stadium.
The situation has become so bad that in recent years referees from other European countries have been used to officiate at some major league games.
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