Crowd riots end Athens derby

Sunday’s derby between Athens arch-rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiakos Pireaus was abandoned because of crowd violence.

Three fire trucks were had to extinguish flames as unruly Panathinaikos fans set fire to several sections of the stands.

The start of the second half was delayed by 45 minutes as fans pelted police with flares, molotovs and missiles and was subsequently abandoned altogether with nine minutes remaining with Olympiakos 1-0 ahead through Djamel Abdoun’s 51st-minute goal.

Several petrol bombs exploded close to the pitch, prompting referee Anastasio Kakos to take the players off the field.

Twenty police officers were injured and over 50 arrests were made, while 10 molotov cocktails, sticks, firecrackers and two knives were confiscated by the authorities, police said.

Panathinaikos captain Kostas Katsouranis said Greek soccer had been shamed.

“That was not football,” Katsouranis told reporters.

“Certainly it’s one of the worst moments in Greek football and I don’t even want to comment on the game. As a team we will just try to get on with the next matches and fight for a place in the Champions League qualifiers.”

Panathinaikos’ Portuguese coach Jesualdo Ferreira added: “I would have liked to talk about a great derby but unfortunately I can’t because this didn’t happen.”

“As a professional I feel very sorry for what I saw and as a person who loves Panathinaikos, I certainly don’t understand it.”

Panathinaikos, who have already been punished once this season for the unruly behaviour of their fans and were ordered to play a match behind closed doors, will face a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday.

Olympiakos are expected to be awarded a 3-0 victory, which would put them three points clear of their rivals before any point deductions.