NEWS

Soccer saboteurs make their point in Pyrgos

A first-division football match between defending champions Olympiakos and a local team in the western Peloponnese was nearly canceled yesterday after saboteurs sowed the playing pitch with nails on Saturday night. Yesterday morning, officials at the Pyrgos soccer ground discovered that some 10 kilos of nails had been scattered all over the turf, posing a severe threat to players. Reinforcements were called in with magnets, and the pitch was cleared to the satisfaction of referee Giorgos Borovilos. Olympiakos issued an angry statement warning that it would «exert its legal rights» over the incident. The club said that the act was a deliberate attempt to severely injure both teams’ players. «We denounce this unprecedented and immoral act,» it added. Olympiakos won the match, 3-1, to stay at the top of the first-division rankings.

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