K. Mitsotakis announces the suspension of all championships

Incidents in the capital’s Renty area, which left a 31-year-old police officer seriously injured, look set to lead to a “lockdown” of all sporting events.

On Saturday, an emergency meeting was held under the leadership of Kyriakos Mitsotakis on the issue of violence by fans. The meeting was attended by Ministers of Justice Georgios Florides and Citizens’ Protection Giannis Economou, Deputy Minister of Sports Giannis Vroutis.

The government intends to take serious measures. One of the issues expected to be discussed is the suspension all sporting events in Greece for the coming period! It is reported that the government’s decision will be announced on Monday.

ΠΟΑΣΥ – to the government: Immediately suspend all leagues

Announcement of the Panhellenic Police Federation (ΠΟΑΣΥ) in detail:

“Anger and sadness are felt today by the entire Greek police corps in connection with the murderous attack on our colleague, as a result of which he received serious injuries, hopefully without a fatal outcome. We are angry at those who, with clear murderous intent, attacked a public servant while he was doing his job, a policeman who was earning his living.

Anger at all those who cover, shelter, support, pay for packs of two-legged hooligans with animal instincts, be they owners of PAE, KAE, etc. or “agents” of the sport, or anyone else. Sadness for Greek sport, which from a product of culture has turned into a refuge for all sorts of criminals who, under its cover, manifest their most inhuman and evil instincts.

We are saddened by the state of Greek society, which tolerates criminal behavior and does not respond to it to condemn and isolate. Sad for the Greek state, which allows itself to be a spectator in this situation, leaving its officials to fall prey to the murderous intentions of the criminal elements that have infiltrated the sport. Moreover, when this is done in order to free the owners and managers of large clubs from criminal and other liability, and shift it to government bodies, that is, to the Greek police and its employees.

We call on the Prime Minister to immediately stop all championships in all sports to date until the criminal activities of all these actors are stopped.

We call on the Minister of Citizen Protection and the Chief of the Greek Police to stop deploying police forces to any sporting events from today, without delay and without any justification. In a situation where a police officer is fighting for his life, his family and all of us are fighting for his life, no excuses are acceptable.

We call on the Greek justice system to immediately intervene and bring to justice all culprits, no matter how high they may be, who essentially act as moral instigators of murderous acts.

We call on political parties, sports organizations, the media and civil society to shout “LIKE HERE” by adding their voice to ours, as they have done on other occasions.

Finally, we invite everyone to join us in praying for the life of our colleague who was shot with murderous intent. We hope that he will overcome the danger and that the blood he lost will be the last shed by a worker whose profession is dangerous. The government stubbornly refuses to acknowledge that his profession is dangerous and likes to hand out tips.”

Olympiacos club: taking all fans hostage

“Following the unprecedented events of last night, ΟΛΥΜΠΙΑΚΟΣ Σ.Φ.Π. must condemn the leadership of the Greek police for the tragic handling of the sad incident, seriously injuring a policeman who is fighting for his life, and we wish him a painless recovery, as well as all those who were injured and lung problems as a result of unjustified police violence.”

The incident occurred outside the match venue by a group of individuals who had no connection with the match either before or after the incident. It is emphasized that the incidents began after the victory ΟΣΦΠ 1st set of a volleyball match, for no apparent reason or reason. And the serious injuries were inflicted on a side street, almost five hundred meters from the Melina Mercouri indoor court.

These facts prove that they were provoked by the rioters, who probably did not return to the stadium after the end of the match, but left in an unknown direction, since it would have been very easy for the police to catch and arrest them, given the forces already present in the area.

Instead, the panicked and tragic reaction of the police chiefs was to fire countless amounts of chemicals and tear gas near the stadium, poisoning the atmosphere inside the indoor venue, putting approximately 800 people (team delegations, support staff, match officials and fans, minors) in danger Academy athletes and young professional members of our team), cause panic in families and among small children, and, of course, interrupt the match (which is the least of our worries), since it was impossible to stay in the stadium. This tragically irresponsible and dangerous response by police officers continued in even more tragic ways.

For the first time in the history of Greece, and not only in the history of sports, a decision was made to forcefully remove all fans inside an indoor stadium because a police officer was injured. A decision that caused even greater panic among the fans and a dangerous attack on the source of the fire inside the indoor stadium for an unknown reason, which was fortunately extinguished by the immediate intervention of the OLYMPIAKOS management and not the fire service, which was not allowed to arrive!

After desperate pleas from the OLYMPIACOS management for calm, the police decided to release only women and small children, as well as athletes of the two teams, illegally detaining about 500 fans, that is, all men over 15 years old!!! A decision that clearly resembles not only the junta, but also the Nazis’ retaliation tactics!!! Unfortunately, their failure to prevent and deal with incidents continued with the decision to transport hundreds of hostages in cages to the dungeons of the Attica Court of Appeal Office at Petra Rally. Among them were sponsors, associates, employees, journalists, fathers, athletes, many of whom were beaten and insulted for no reason.

We experienced truly tragic moments: children said goodbye to their fathers with sobs and kisses, women hugged their partners and friends! To all of them we declare in the clearest and most unequivocal manner that OLYMPIACOS will stand by their side in every way until their complete moral and psychological recovery.

Finally, to the political and physical leadership of the police, we ask two simple questions: Do you really intend to apply the same hostage-taking tactics in every indoor or outdoor public place in case of injury to a police officer? Are you really going to use the same tactics if any fan is injured? In this case, gentlemen, you have no choice but to turn in your police IDs and MAKE them leave NOW by humbly apologizing to your seriously injured colleague, his relatives and the Greek community. Lock your houses, turn off the lights, and think that in 2023 you have decided to express the long arm of state power in the most fascist way possible, in a desperate attempt to hide your incompetence in carrying out government and police duties.

And if suddenly your insensitivity overpowers your feelings of guilt, and you remain in your posts, you will forever be tainted by the harm that you caused to your unfortunate colleague by failing to fulfill your duty to prevent incidents. And also to the hundreds of fans who have suffered and continue to suffer from beatings, insults and unjustified violence during the hostage crisis, which continues without any justification.

OLYMPIACOS will continue to uphold the values ​​and ideals of its democratic sporting history – and beyond – by taking all necessary actions in relation to all political sports and judicial authorities.”

Reply to Ikonomou Olympiacos: ELAS does his job systematically

“Some try to blame EL.AS., making accusations that defy logic and public sentiment, says Civil Protection Minister Yiannis Ikonomou, speaking about the injury of an MAT employee during the Olympiacos-PAO volleyball match in Renti. He, without naming a name, reacts to the statement of the Olympiacos fan, noting in his statement that it contained “references to, indeed, dark and strange times in Greek and world history.”

Statement by the Minister for Citizen Protection, Yiannis Ikonomou:

“After the attempted murder of a 31-year-old policeman, while the whole of Greece is praying for his life, some people are making a nefarious attempt to blame the Greek police, making accusations that defy logic and public sentiment. With references, in fact, to the dark and strange times in Greek and world history.

EL.AS. systematically carries out its work, following the provisions of the law, to identify the culprit or culprits in the murderous attack on the 31-year-old policeman. In these efforts they have my full confidence and support.

Such moments require respect for the work of the authorities and unanimous support of society – both so that justice prevails and so that people with a murderous streak do not walk among us. Any other actions hinder and undermine the work of the authorities of our state and are fundamentally contrary to public sentiment.”

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