Greece’s Olympiacos hits out at police death probe

Greek football powerhouse Olympiacos on Wednesday slammed a probe targeting their top management in connection with the death of a riot policeman at the hands of hooligans last year.

Judicial authorities have called owner and president Evangelos Marinakis to appear next week to answer to possible misdemeanour charges of supporting a criminal organisation and fomenting sports violence.

“This latest development… is yet another attempt to blackmail Olympiacos FC, aiming to undermine both the Olympiacos family and its President,” the club, which is also active across several sports besides football, said in a statement.

“It follows the unjust collective targeting of our fans,” it added, which it said was “fuelled by specific political and business interests”.

In December 2023 riot officer Yiorgos Lyggeridis was fatally injured by a marine flare fired outside a sports hall during an Olympiacos-Panathinaikos volleyball match near Piraeus.

The 31-year-old died in hospital and stadiums across the country were closed for several weeks as a result of the incident.

More than a dozen people, reportedly hardline Olympiacos fans, were subsequently placed in pre-trial detention as part of the investigation.

Several of those held are said to be senior members of Gate 7, Olympiacos’s main supporters’ club, and authorities suspect they could not have operated without the knowledge of club officials.

Besides Marinakis, four other members of the club board including Piraeus mayor Yiannis Moralis have been called to appear on Tuesday, where the authorities will decide whether to formalise the charges facing them.

Olympiacos on Wednesday said Marinakis, a shipping and media magnate who is also a majority owner of Premier League side Nottingham Forest and Portugal’s Rio Ave, has a “clear conscience”, “cannot be intimidated and will not back down”.

Piraeus mayor Moralis has also denied any involvement.