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Shame, Shame and Tear Gas at the Peace and Friendship Stadium

07 June 2010 / 12:06:15  GRReporter
3564 reads

The game between the Olympiakos and Panathinaikos teams on the Friendship and Peace Stadium in Athens ended with score 69-76 and atmosphere not resembling a basketball game at all. The game was a tragic proof that we can less really talk about basketball in Greece.  The conclusions for the level of sport in the country are painfully discouraging. The match lasted three hours and a half. It began with a 45 minute delay and was subsequently cut off for 50 minutes.
The outrage began 40 minutes before the game when fans of the white-and-reds tried to force their way to the playground having no tickets. To stop the wave of fans, the police had to use tear gas. The area around the playground became a battleground between the police that tried to catch the fans and the last to repel them. However, some of the fans managed to break through to the playground and the outrage was brought inside.
The players had to break warming up and hide in the locker rooms. The police definitely were not able to cope with the unrest. A suffocating smell of tear gas and smoke balls filled in the air of the hall 30 minutes before the start of the match.  
The basketball players of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos continued their warming up when the things calmed down. Not for long though. Raged fans threw a lot of objects at Panathinaikos players. Bottles, lighters and chairs flew in the air. As a result, the players hid again in the locker rooms. Around 22 o’clock the president of the basketball club of Olympiakos Panagiotis Angelopoulos announced that the game will still start. It started at 22:30, but was interrupted twice. The last time for final.
When the end of game was first announced, most of the audience left the hall. It was unclear whether the teams will have to play another match or the winner was Panathinaikos with its leading score... 40 minutes after the "end" of the game the management of the white-and-reds decided the match to be finished. With microphone in his hand Burusich said the other fans that the match will take place but will be permanently terminated when the next bomb explodes..
Thus the game began again but was played to a thin house. Paradoxical and unique is the fact that after the first break the cool players started warming up and massages after midnight ... The game started for the second time in 1 o’clock... This time it didn’t last until the end either. Bombs, smoke bombs and huge fireworks flew to the playground again. Panathinaikos players again hid in the locker rooms. The winner in this match that brought shame to the Greek Cup and that will forever remain in history is the team of Panathinaikos.

Tags: OlympiakosPanathinaikos A1championshipshameSEFsport basketball
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