ATHENS, Aug 11 Greek Citizens Protection Ministry disagrees with accusations that it was not prepared for riots involving football fans — before the matches of European tournaments, the police prepared a multi-day operation to prevent fan violence, it involved more than 2,100 police officers, a source in the ministry told reporters.
Dynamo Zagreb fans from the Bad Blue Boys (BBB) association on August 7, the day before the Champions League qualifying round match with the Greek AEK, staged a mass brawl, a 29-year-old Greek fan died due to stab wounds. Eight more people were injured, 96 were arrested, and an investigation is underway. The BBB have a reputation for being nationalists, they came to Greece despite the UEFA ban on their presence at the match against AEK. At the same time, Croatian fans performed together with the fans of the Greek «Panathinaikos».
The media accused the police of being unprepared for the riots, and 150-200 Croatian fans made it to Athens without any problems. The media publishes a notification from the Croatian police to the Greek colleagues that hooligans are sent to Athens. The Minister for the Protection of Citizens, Yannis Ikonomou, dismissed seven high-ranking police officers, including the heads of the traffic police of the regions through which the Croats traveled.
«The internal investigation, aimed at fully clarifying all the circumstances of the tragic events in Nea Philadelphia and bringing to justice at any level and in any form, continues intensively and thoroughly. Solving the case in all its aspects is an absolute priority,» said source.
According to him, the Greek police continue to work to combat fan violence «in a difficult and tense environment», focusing on both preventive and repressive measures.
«Given the information about the high risk of incidents in various areas of Attica, as well as in connection with the games of Greek teams in the framework of European competitions, a multi-day police operation was prepared, in which more than 2,100 police officers took part. They acted in a variety of ways, … preventing or suppressing offenses at the initial stage,» the source said.