Measures to tackle fan violence prove ineffective
Fan violence at a volleyball match last week again demonstrated that most measures announced in recent years to deal with the phenomenon remain unimplemented, but even those that were have proven ineffective.
“Measures announced must be followed up in practice. Are the restrictive conditions applied during pretrial periods? Is it checked that someone who has been arrested for breaking sports law will not enter a stadium and will appear at the police station when their team plays?” wondered a police official at the Directorate for Combating Violence in Sports Venues in comments to Kathimerini.
Another stressed “that even in the stadiums of big teams there are blind spots or poorly maintained cameras.”
In the wake of the latest incident and serious injury of a riot unit officer, the government has hinted it may proceed with tougher measures, including a permanent lockout of the stadium stands.
