Olympiacos president slams ´atrocity´ after crowd trouble

Olympiacos president Vangelis Marinakis brandished the actions of Panathinaikos fans attempting to attack his players as an “atrocity”.

Vangelis Marinakis, the president of Olympiacos, has described the ugly scenes at Sunday’s Athens derby as an “atrocity”.

With Olmpiacos travelling to fierce rivals Panathinaikos in a meeting between the Greek Super League’s top two clubs, home fans invaded the pitch ahead of the game and attempted to attack the Olympiacos players as they warmed up.

The players were able to escape down the tunnel to safety, and the match started around 15 minutes late.

When it did commence, Panathinaikos won 2-1 to reduce the gap at the top of the table to three points, although there was more trouble at the start of the second half as a flare was fired into the away dugout.

The fixture – known as the derby of eternal enemies – has a long history of violent clashes between the two sets of supporters, and Marinaikos was stunned to witness the scenes.

“Unfortunately today we saw an atrocity for Greek football,” he said.

“What we saw today I don’t think think I had ever imagined. 

“I cannot deny that I’d be the first to give congratulations to Panathinaikos, but today they only deserve sympathy.

“Our players cannot play well in these conditions and are heroes. It is unprecedented.

“I saw the players. Others are beaten, others are upset, others are shocked.

“We did not come for war, we came to play football.”