Before CL qualifying duel with Dinamo – fatalities after fan riots in Athens – game postponed – Sport


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Rival fans fight before the now canceled first leg duel of the 3rd qualifying round of the Champions League between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb. A Greek follower is killed.

Legend:

Desert scenes on Greece’s roads

The police had to intervene the night before the football game.

Keystone/EPA/MARTIN DIVISEK archive image

A young Greek football fan has been stabbed multiple times in a violent altercation between rival club supporters in a suburb of Athens. According to the police, the victim was immediately taken to a hospital on Monday, where the man succumbed to his injuries.

The incident happened ahead of the “premier class” qualifier between AEK Athens and Croatian champions Dinamo Zagreb. According to the authority, 8 other people were injured – 3 Greeks and 5 Croats. The game would have been scheduled for Tuesday evening, but has now been postponed by the European football association Uefa due to the violence.

Against 100 arrests

“A serious incident occurred in front of the Nea Filadelfia stadium,” said the Greek police: “A young Greek was stabbed, other injuries are in the hospital.” A total of 96 people had been arrested by Tuesday morning.

According to the Greek news agency Ana investigations were initiated. About 100 hooligans from the Croatian club were present in the Greek capital, reports Ana.

Greece has often been a focal point


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Greek football has been overshadowed by violence in the past. Last year, the government increased the maximum sentence for fan violence after a knife attack from 6 months to 5 years. 19-year-old Alkis Kampanos was killed in Thessaloniki in February 2022 in a fight between supporters of city rivals Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK. Last month, 7 defendants were found guilty of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Dinamo strongly condemned the excesses of their own fans. “Such acts are not in line with the values ​​and ethics that we represent as a club and community,” said a first statement. The family of the killed Greek expresses “sincere condolences”.

The ban was ignored

Despite an agreement between the two parties involved not to allow opposing fans to the matches, 150 to 200 hooligans entered Greece overland on Monday, the media reported.

Zagreb specifically asked its followers not to make a pilgrimage to Athens. Mobile phone videos were broadcast on television of a convoy of minibuses and cars on the highway between northern Greece and Athens. It was initially unclear why the Greek police did not intervene at the border or later on the motorway.

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