Football club pays for use of railway
The Athens electric railway will function normally today after Olympiakos, the host team in tonight’s clash between Greece’s two biggest football clubs, gave the operating company, ISAP, a letter of credit to cover any damage caused by hooligans. A series of recent violent incidents between football supporters on ISAP trains or stations has caused heightened concern among railway and police officials over the wisdom of running trains on days of football matches. Yesterday, Transport Minister Christos Verelis said that Olympiakos – which is playing Panathinaikos at the Kalogreza Olympic Stadium – had handed ISAP a letter of credit for 50 million drachmas, which he described as satisfactory. Originally, ISAP had asked for 100 million. This is the first agreement of its kind. The teams will also run newspaper adverts appealing to their fans to behave. Just in case, only Olympiakos fans will be allowed to use the railway, on special trains starting at Piraeus which will run to Irini without stopping elsewhere.
