Yet another Greek Superleague derby was interrupted by hooligan violence and finally suspended, with the Panathinaikos Athens-Olympiacos Piraeus match stopped in the 69th minute on Sunday at the Athens Olympic Stadium (OAKA). The visitors were ahead at the time, 0-1.
Police, stadium security and members of Panathinaikos' own detail first failed to prevent a pitch invasion by several hooligans in the first five minutes of the game, as the latter ran towards the Olympiacos bench and landed a few punches against the away team's trainer.
The second pitch invasion, this time by dozens of hooligans, caused a 40-minute delay, complete with the firing of tear gas by riot police, but still with no arrests.
One fan, face fully exposed, was showed by the television cameras plunking the corner flag and casually walking around with it.
German referee Marco Fritz finally officially terminated the game roughly 40 minutes after the second interruption and with the stadium mostly empty of fans. A trio of foreign referees was again used in order to avoid insinuations of favoritism for one club or the other, a practice that has been used repeatedly this season in the lackluster top Greek football league.
The struggling Athens side now faces a possible fine and the reduction of six points, while losing the match 3-0 on paper.
During the actual play, Spanish forward Miguel Ángel Guerrero scored in the 53rd minute with a powerful header from near the penalty mark after an exquisite cross from Greek-Brazilian left back Leonard Koutris.
