Man dies as fans clash

Panathinaikos and Olympiakos supporters battle; 7 injured, 18 detained

One person was killed and another seven injured yesterday when fans of rival teams fought for about half an hour before a women’s volleyball match east of Athens in what appears to have been a prearranged meeting between hooligans.

The unnamed 25-year-old man was struck by a car after fighting fans spilled onto Lavriou Avenue in Paeania at 3.30 p.m. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the KAT Hospital in Athens. The two men in the car were arrested.

According to witnesses, dozens of Olympiakos supporters riding motorcycles arrived in Paeania and began fighting with Panathinakos fans using rocks, flares, clubs, knives and other objects.

Among those injured was an unnamed 22-year-old amateur soccer player from nearby Markopoulo. He had been driving past the scene of the clash by chance with four teammates when his car was set up on and the 22-year-old was stabbed in the leg.

Olympiakos fans seem to have attacked the car because the players were wearing the shirts of their club, Marko, which happens to have the same color, green, and badge, the three-leaf clover, as Panathinaikos.

Another six people were injured – two had been stabbed and four badly beaten – but were not in danger last night, doctors said.

Three shops were damaged and two cars were set on fire during the clashes, which, according to some reports, involved about 300 hooligans. Police said they detained 18 people and later arrested six of them.

“These incidents… have nothing to do with sport,” said government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos. “The government condemns them, as should any sensible citizen and society as a whole.”

The meeting between the two sets of fans appears to have been planned in advance by the fierce rivals who have been involved in bloody clashes before but rarely on such a scale and with such disastrous consequences. However, police sources told Kathimerini that authorities had been on “low alert” for the game.