December 12 – All top-flight matches in Greece will be played behind closed doors for the next two months in the latest crackdown on supporter violence that for decades has plagued Greek football.
The government is introducing emergency legislation to make the ban on supporters effective immediately.
This past weekend’s professional games were postponed following a series of violent incidents including outside a volleyball game between local teams Olympiacos and Panathinaikos whose football teams are also bitter rivals.
A 31-year-old police officer injured in the clashes remains hospitalised in a coma.
“This murderous attack against a policeman is not the first incident of extreme fan violence in recent years. Criminals in the guise of sports fans are committing serious offenses, seriously injuring and killing people,” government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis (pictured) told reporters.
He said all 14 clubs competing in the top-flight Super League will have to install surveillance cameras inside stadiums and use personalized ticketing systems that require the holder to show identification upon entry before being allowed to admit supporters.
Marinakis warned the measures might also apply to some European fixtures at home and could even be extended if league teams fail by February 12 to take action.
“For years, criminals in the guise of fans have been committing serious crimes by critically injuring and killing,” Marinakis said. “Neither athletes, nor fans should they suffer from the murderous behaviour of criminal gangs and the pathetic tolerance of a tiny minority of fans.”
Last August, AEK Athens fan Michalis Katsouris was stabbed to death in violent clashes before a Champions League match against Dinamo Zagreb.
And last year, a 19-year-old fan died in rival clashes in the northern city of Thessaloniki, after which Greece tightened rules over clubs, imposed heavier penalties and increased police controls – seemingly to no avail.
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