Champions League: 5 Croatian football fans arrested after Greek fan killed in violent clash outside Athens stadium
- Qualifier between Panathinaikos and Dinamo Zagreb cancelled after Greek fan dies outside AEK Athens’ stadium
- Suspects detained after trying to board ferry to Italy, 90 more people reportedly involved
Police in Greece have arrested five Croatian nationals reportedly involved in deadly football fan violence, apprehending them as they attempted to leave the country.
The arrests were announced on Wednesday, one day after a 29-year-old Greek fan was stabbed to death outside AEK Athens’ stadium, prompting the cancellation of a Champions League qualifier against Dinamo Zagreb.
The five suspects were detained in the northwestern port of Igoumenitsa as they prepared to board a ferry bound for Italy, police said. More than 90 other people are expected to appear before a magistrate in Athens for their supposed involvement in attacks that left 10 people injured, with four still in hospital.
The are fears more violence will break out on Wednesday when Panathinaikos face Marseille in a Champions League qualifier, which was set to go ahead under strict security measures at the Leoforos Stadium in Athens.
Greek Public Order Minister Giannis Oikonomou said the police had made “tragic errors” in failing to stop the travelling Croatian supporters and ignoring tips on fan violence. He dismissed calls from opposition parties to resign and suspended seven police officers, including several in senior positions, pending an investigation and their reassignment or dismissal.
Outside AEK’s Opap Arena, fans set up tributes for the supporter who was killed – identified by family members as Michalis Katsouris from a town near Athens – leaving flowers and candles at the site where he died.
AEK called on European football’s governing body, Uefa, to impose “immediate and severe punishment” on Dinamo Zagreb, expressing disappointment that the qualifier would go ahead in Zagreb later this month.
“The question that torments our fans is one that we described from the outset and that also torments us: how is it possible that following the brutal murder of Michalis by a gang of vicious criminals from Croatia, for AEK Athens to enter the field and play against this team?” AEK said.
“Will any of his killers be in the stands?”
The Croatian government and Dinamo Zagreb have both strongly condemned the attacks in Athens.
In a joint statement, the mayors of Athens and Zagreb, Kostas Bakoyannis and Tomislav Tomasevic, appealed for calm.
“Athens and Zagreb maintain friendly ties, and as mayors we are committed to strengthening them,” they wrote. “This senseless violence has no place in our stadiums, in our cities and in our societies.”
