Greece suspends team sports
No official team sports will take place in Greece for the next 15 days, the government decided yesterday as a measure to prevent further violence between fans following the death of a supporter on Thursday during a fight involving some 500 hooligans. The drastic move was announced after an emergency meeting between Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, Public Order Minister Vyron Polydoras, Justice Minister Anastassis Papaligouras, Sports Minister Giorgos Orfanos and government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos. It was also agreed that the three ministers would set up a committee to ensure that a harsher law introduced last year to combat fan violence is enforced fully. «Sports-related violence is something that affects the whole of society,» said Roussopoulos. «The relevant sports authorities, with the state at their side, have to move decisively to eradicate this distressing phenomenon.» The government is hoping that the two-week postponement of sports matches will reduce the opportunity for trouble between fans to flare up. Olympiakos and Panthinaikos – the two teams whose fans fought on Thursday – were due to meet in a men’s volleyball match on Saturday night. Both clubs issued statements yesterday condemning the violence and calling for authorities to take extra measures to prevent more clashes. The temporary ban on team sports means that there will be no games this weekend. There were no games due to take place next weekend because of the Easter holiday. Police hope, however, that these two weeks will give them time to round up more troublemakers. Officers conducted raids yesterday on 11 supporters’ clubs in Attica and seized dozens of weapons including knives, flare guns and baseball bats. Of the 18 people detained in Paeania on Thursday, 13 suspects were arrested after being accused of taking part in the violent clashes. Officers said that two of those arrested are employees of Olympiakos. The other suspects include the son of a woman police officer, a seaman, three students, a prefectural employee, a plumber and the employee of a private company. Police named the 25-year-old man who died on Thursday as Michalis Filopoulos, a gardener who was also the head of the Panathinaikos supporters’ club in Kolonos, near central Athens. Doctors initially suggested that Filopoulos had been hit by a car as hundreds of fighting fans spilt onto Lavriou Avenue but an autopsy revealed that the 25-year-old had been seriously beaten and stabbed. Television footage showed Filopoulos lying in the middle of the road with a bloodied face as Olympiakos fans swore at him and threatened to kill him, before locals intervened to protect the dying man. Police believe the mass fight had been prearranged with the fans of the two clubs starting their journeys from various parts of Athens to meet in Paeania at around 3.30 p.m.
