Panathinaikos-Olympiakos match aborted after violence

Greek deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis Sunday insisted that fans responsible for the violence and cancellation of the Athens derby between Panathinaikos-Olympiakos will be punished.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) – The Greek league match between host Panathinaikos and archrival Olympiakos has been postponed after home fans clashed with police before the game and threw flares at Olympiakos players when they went on the pitch.

Referee Andreas Pappas delayed the kick-off by an hour before deciding conditions at the Apostolos Nikolaides stadium were unsafe.

Olympiakos did not have any fans at the ground, as away supporters are banned in the Greek top flight.

The aftermath of the clash was like a hurricane, with objects from plastic chairs to pipes, strewn across the pitch.

AP reports that clashes began two hours before the scheduled kick-off time as a few Panathinaikos fans, apparently without tickets, attempted to enter the stadium.

A flare thrown from the stands hit Olympiakos forward Alfred Finnbogason in the leg. The Iceland global, on loan to Olympiakos from Real Sociedad, was filming the clashes with his phone.

Olympiakos officials said he suffered mild burns and was spared a worse injury because he, like his fellow players, had not taken off his tracksuit.

It was hoped Saturday’s match would be an entertaining affair, with Olympiakos arriving on the back of a ideal 10-match winning streak since the start of the season. The team also announced that their defender Luka Milivojevic was also injured in the scuffle.

The Athens derby between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos is off after violence between both sets of fans.

Greek police said at least five individuals were arrested and a number of people were injured in clashes.

Panathinaikos, which was trailing the championship’s frontrunner Olympiakos by eight points, will have to play the next 3-4 games behind closed doors and pay a fine ranging from 10,000 to 1 million euros.