Greek basketball final halted after fan violence

AP

7 juin 2010

ATHENS, Greece — Panathinaikos was named Greek basketball champion after referees called off the fourth game of the league finals against Olympiakos with just more than 1 minute left when it was interrupted by fans for a second time at Olympiakos’ home arena Sunday.

Panathinaikos won its eighth consecutive Greek title and 12th in the last 13 seasons.

Panathinaikos, already ahead 2-1 in the best-of-five finals series, was leading 76-69 and about to shoot two free throws when Olympiakos fans seated behind the two baskets threw a barrage of plastic bottles and arena seats, which they had ripped off.

A flare was thrown at Panathinaikos players and coaching staff as they were leaving the arena, narrowly missing them.

The referees’ decision must to be confirmed by league authorities.

Finale ends in violence

REUTERS

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

Crowd violence overshadowed Panathinaikos’ eighth consecutive Greek A1 League title when Game 4 of the finals was abandoned with Panathinaikos leading Olympiakos 76-69 after fans peppered the court with missiles and smoke bombs and fought with police.

Police used tear gas to quell rioting fans and a smoke bomb exploded near the visitors’ bench.

As the match was about to be resumed, a few Olympiakos fans began throwing objects onto the court, prompting the officials to call time.

Playoff game suspended, arena partly emptied

greekreporter.com

06 June 2010

Panathinaikos appear to have won their eighth consecutive basketball title after their fourth game against Olympiakos was suspended due to persistent crowd trouble with the Greens 2-1 up in the series and leading in the match.

Another sad chapter was written in the history of Greek sport on Sunday night and early Monday morning when Olympiakos fans managed to repeatedly disrupt Game 4 of the A1 final series by throwing objects, including bottles and smoke bombs at Panathinaikos players and fighting with riot police.

The Greens had a 76-69 lead over Olympiakos one minute from the end when a third outbreak of unruly behaviour from the stands led to the game being called off.
The referees awarded the game to Panathinaikos with a 20-0 score. The final result will be confirmed by a sports court, which is likely to award the game to Panathinaikos although the Reds may appeal this.

Officers used tear gas to quell rioting fans before the game began, leading to the game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium beginning 40 minutes late. Many Reds fans appeared to feel aggrieved about some of the referees’ decisions in Game 3, which Panathinaikos won.

Peace and friendship were in short supply in Neo Faliro and the game was stopped again after 25 minutes, with Panathinaikos leading 50-42 when a smoke bomb exploded next to the visitors’ bench.

At 10 minutes to midnight, this led to the referees leading both teams back into the locker rooms to allow the police to get a grip of the situation.

The stadium only had some 2,000 fans when the two teams returned at shortly before 1 a.m. to finish the game following repeated pleas by the Angelopoulos brothers, who own Olympiakos basketball club, as well as several of the players.

However, with just over a minute left on the clock in the fourth quarter and Panathinaikos leading 76-69, the few Reds’ fans left in the stadium started to throw water bottles and other objects onto the court, prompting the referees to suspend play again.

The end to the game rounds off a miserable season for Olympiakos, who were soundly beaten in the Euroleague final by Barcelona. For Panathinaikos, the A1 League title will be some consolation for an unusually poor showing in Europe but following Sunday’s events, nobody involved in Greek basketball can take any comfort.

~ par Alain Bertho sur 8 juin 2010.

Publié dans émeutes, ταραχές, riots