October 24 – Greek football has been plunged into yet more disgrace as officials decide if and when to replay the so-called ‘derby of the eternal enemies’ between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos which had to be abandoned at the weekend after a player was hit by a firework.
Panathinaikos left-back Juan ‘Juankar’ Carlos was warming up on the touchline shortly after halftime when he was struck by a firework and had to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher.
The match was called off half an hour later with the score 1-1 with the referee saying the stadium had not been made sufficiently safe.
“A firecracker was launched from the home team’s stand and exploded at the spot where the (Panathinaikos) football players were warming up. Juankar fell to the ground in a daze, while he also had a problem with his hearing,” Panathinaikos said in a statement. “The game did not restart and …. The fate of the match will be decided in the courts…”
The game was first interrupted in the sixth minute, when about 30 Panathinaikos fans entered the field and attacked the Olympiakos bench before police intervened. Fans then attacked police outside the stadium soon after Olympiakos scored in the 53rd minute.
In 2019, another clash between the sides was abandoned after Panathainaikos fans attacked players on the visiting team’s bench and clashed with police.
Four years before that, a game was called off before the start following violence in and around the stadium and after flares had been thrown on to the pitch.
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