Over 100 to face Greek prosecutor over deadly football fan violence

More than 100 people were due to appear before a Greek prosecutor on Wednesday in connection with a deadly brawl before a Champions League qualifier near Athens this week.

A 29-year-old Greek man was stabbed and died in hospital after fans of AEK Athens and Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb clashed on Monday ahead of their teams’ third-round qualifying match at the Nea Filadelfeia stadium.

Police have arrested 104 people, including 94 Croats, six Greeks, an Albanian, an Austrian, a Bosnian and a German. 

They are due to appear before the Athens prosecutor, spokeswoman Konstantina Dimoglidou told AFP.

She added that most of the suspects were under 30 years old and included five men who were detained on Tuesday at the port of Igoumenitsa as they tried to flee to Italy.

Greece’s ministry for citizen protection said fans threw stun grenades, stones, incendiary devices and other items near the stadium on the outskirts of the Greek capital. 

Some were carrying bats and around 120 Dinamo Zagreb supporters were involved alongside Greek fans, police said. 

Eight people were injured in addition to the single fatality.

European football’s governing body UEFA condemned “in the strongest possible terms the appalling incidents” and postponed the match scheduled for Tuesday, with August 18 or 19 the suggested new dates.

Violence has marred a number of football matches in Greece. 

After a stabbing death last year, the government increased the maximum sentence for fan violence from six months to five years.