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Greek league suspended to tackle hooligan violence

Xinhua, February 26, 2015 Adjust font size:

Greece's Super League football championship was suspended for a week in a new bid to tackle hooligan violence, Deputy Minister of Sports Stavros Kontonis announced on Wednesday.

The decision will be re examined on March 4 and the games will resume once the necessary measures to address the problem, such as the use of electronic tickets and the shutdown of fan clubs, are taken.

"The government's decision to combat football violence is clear. We will not take a step back. The law must be enforced," Kontonis said after a meeting with Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras.

The Greek official held a round of talks throughout Wednesday with the Presidents of the Super League, Hellenic Football Federation, officials of the Hellenic Olympic Committee and the Hellenic Gymnastics Federation, as well as representatives of the Association of professional football players.

Greek authorities decided to take this drastic step for a third time in less than a year.

Last October all football games were suspended for two weeks after the fatal injury of a fan by during clashes in a second division match on Crete island.

A few weeks later the suspension was repeated after the injury of a referee official during an attack on the street.

This time last weekend during a derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos in Athens hooligans, threw fireworks and seats to players, the coach and the owner of Olympiakos club, Vangelis Marinakis.

Similar clashes between fans and rival squads and then police forces were reported in another match between Larissa and Olympiakos Volou in central Greece during the weekend.

On Tuesday during a Super League board meeting Marinakis and Panathinaikos' owner Yannis Alafouzos were involved in a verbal war over which team was responsible for Sunday's events which escalated to an attack against Alafouzos and Panathinaikos Vice President Vassilis Konstantinou.

Alafouzos has said that he will sue Marinakis for throwing a glass of water to him. In addition, a security guard of Olympiakos ' club owner was accused of punching veteran player Konstantinou.

Greek sports, in particular football, have been tarnished by hooliganism violence for years. Endite