Soccer fans fight amid the ferries
A police officer was hurt and a patrol car damaged on Saturday when rival fans from Olympiakos and Panathinaikos soccer teams clashed in Piraeus, authorities said. A group of more than 80 Panathinaikos fans had arrived in the port to catch a ferry to Crete where their team played Ergotelis yesterday. Police were escorting the fans to the port area in a bid to avoid them clashing with local Olympiakos fans. However, trouble broke out when a group of about 50 Olympiakos supporters approached the rival group and attacked them – and nearby law enforcement officers – by throwing a variety of projectiles, including Molotov cocktails. Police broke up the Olympiakos supporters and detained 62 Panathinaikos fans after finding in their possession weapons and small quantities of cannabis. It was not clear whether any arrests were made. Soccer violence has been prominent in recent weeks. On Friday, police identified nine suspected hooligans after AEK Athens provided video footage of fan violence as part of a crackdown on violence in local soccer.
