Greek FA suspends professional football in Greece

Augmerson

[From the Guardian] Greece’s professional football leagues have been suspended indefinitely in a bid to crackdown on crowd violence, the top-flight Super League announced on Wednesday.

The move follows a pitch invasion at the end of the Athens derby last weekend and a Super League board meeting which ended in a brawl on Tuesday, with Greece’s recently elected Syriza party aiming to stamp out the problem of crowd violence.



“What we have been informed is that the Super League and the Football League have been suspended indefinitely,” said Super League president Giorgos Borovilos.

“We have a new government who are looking to bring this subject up for discussion and implement state laws related to it.”


http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/feb/25/greece-football-suspended-crowd-violence-syriza

Been like this for some time in Greece. I think this is the second suspension this year, earlier a fan of a 3rd division team was killed in violent clashes between sets of fans. Crazy atmosphere at some games between rival clubs like Panathinaikos and Olympiakos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vfbgdim7-ks

Some footage of a Olympiakos v Panathinaikos match.

ricero

Thugs they reek of crime. Fair play to this new Greece government

Augmerson

ricero wrote: »

Thugs they reek of crime. Fair play to this new Greece government

It's a can that has been kicked down the road for a long, long time. Having a go at opposing fans or the police seems to be as big a part of things as seeing the football being played.

It must be incredibly frustrating for decent football fans in Greece. They go to games, mind their own business, and other muppets cause this to happen.

Richard Hillman

There are a lot of clubs in Europe that for the betterment of society would be better off out of existence. I feel for the normal people that go to games just to enjoy football matches rather than engross themselves in the tribalistic features of football.

There is nothing wrong with singing and chanting to support the team. The ones that are the problem are the people that abuse football by living and breathing a club to escape from their personal problems.

I think segregation adds a lot to the atmosphere at football matches but it also led to an "Us Versus Them" mentality in football. It made football extremely tribal which is a bad thing in my opinion. I think more of an effort should be put into keeping unsavoury people away from football as opposed to just seperating them and increasing the "Us versus Them" mentality. I think that if they ended up bringing segregation into sports like GAA or Rugby, it would end up like football.

Segregation was originally brought in to stop thugs going into areas and starting fights. Segregating people was the easy option as opposed to just stopping people from attending football matches. Its probably too late to ever go back now.

Augmerson

Richard Hillman wrote: »

There are a lot of clubs in Europe that for the betterment of society would be better off out of existence. I feel for the normal people that go to games just to enjoy football matches rather than engross themselves in the tribalistic features of football.

There is nothing wrong with singing and chanting to support the team. The ones that are the problem are the people that abuse football by living and breathing a club to escape from their personal problems.

I think segregation adds a lot to the atmosphere at football matches but it also led to an "Us Versus Them" mentality in football. It made football extremely tribal which is a bad thing in my opinion. I think more of an effort should be put into keeping unsavoury people away from football as opposed to just seperating them and increasing the "Us versus Them" mentality. I think that if they ended up bringing segregation into sports like GAA or Rugby, it would end up like football.

Segregation was originally brought in to stop thugs going into areas and starting fights. Segregating people was the easy option as opposed to just stopping people from attending football matches. Its probably too late to ever go back now.

I see what your saying. I don't know if I agree with your opinion about certain football clubs better off not existing but I can see why you would feel that way.

It must cost the authorities in Greece alone a bucket load to police these matches, both before, during and after. The rivalry between clubs that are only in Division 3 in Greece is staggering. The intensity of the rivalry between clubs in the top leagues, who'll garner more fans, is pretty insane.

I think segregation was the only way forward for a football atmosphere like that in Greece. I'd hate to see it happen in GAA and rugby. I don't think it would ever happen. Part of why I really like and respect those sports is how the fans interact. There have been some moments of embarrassing stupidity in GAA matches. I remember back to a pitch invasion by some culprits because they had bet on one outcome and it didn't happen, but usually opposing fans get on fine. Same with rugby.

It's football being a working class sport, and I imagine, being working class in Greece right now is not good.