Greece Charges 40 Over Football Fan’s Death Ahead Of Champions League Game

Officials stated Greek prosecutors prosecuted 40 people on Saturday in connection with the deadly stabbing of a football fan in Athens before a Champions League game.

All 40 were remanded in jail, bringing the total number of those charged to 70.

These latest indictments join the 30 issued on Friday, the first day of the investigation into violent riots that occurred Monday in the Greek capital between hardline supporters of Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia and AEK Athens.

Michalis Katsouris, 29, died after being stabbed during the brawl.

Following his death, UEFA postponed the two teams’ third-round qualifier on Tuesday until August 19.

A police source indicated that over 100 arrests were made, with the majority of them being tied to Dinamo’s extremist ‘Bad Blue Boys’ supporters.

A dozen of the 30 people charged on Friday were remanded in detention, including ten Croatians, an Albanian, and a Greek.

Yannis Oikonomou, Greece’s minister for citizen protection, suspended seven police officers on Tuesday, claiming they failed to provide necessary security measures to avoid the incident.

Katsouris’ death shocked a country that has witnessed several incidents of violence erupt during football matches.

Last year, Alkis Kampanos, a teenager, was fatally stabbed in a confrontation between supporters of the city’s rival clubs, Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK, in the northern city of Thessaloniki.

Following that, the government increased the maximum term for fan violence from six months to five years.

Seven suspects were found guilty of Kampanos’s murder and sentenced to life in prison last month. Five others were imprisoned for their cooperation.

Meanwhile, in the aftermath of this week’s tragedy, police have beefed up border security.

Fans of AEK and Dinamo have been banned from traveling abroad for the clubs’ two upcoming matches: the qualifier in Athens on August 19, and the second leg in Zagreb next Tuesday.

Seven Romanian supporters were apprehended with two knives on the border between Greece and Bulgaria on Thursday.

“On Friday, they were sentenced to one year in prison with a one-year suspension and fined 1,000 euros ($1,095) apiece”, a police source reported.

The fans were on their way to Thursday’s Europa League qualifier between Olympiakos and Belgian side Genk, according to police.

Also read: Eiffel Tower Evacuated Following A Bomb Threat