Greece forced to postpone basketball final over violence fears

Olympiacos and Panathinaikos owners clashed over alleged obscene gestures and offensive chants by spectators.

Olympiacos fans with a flare (REUTERS)

The Greek government has postponed a basketball game between rivals Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, threatening to cancel the national championship after tensions between team owners escalated at a match on Sunday.

Olympiacos owners Panagiotis and George Aggelopoulos, and Panathinaikos owner Dimitris Giannakopoulos, clashed over alleged obscene gestures and offensive chants by spectators.

The sides were scheduled to play the third of five potential end-of-season games on Wednesday, but that game has been put on hold after

Government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis said the owners would appear in front of the deputy sports minister and promise that this behaviour will not be repeated.

"Otherwise, this year's championship will be permanently suspended," Marinakis added.

Olympiacos and Panathinaikos, two of Greece’s biggest basketball clubs, recently played each other for third place in the EuroLeague finals in Abu Dhabi.

Sport in Greece has been marred by violent incidents on and off the pitch in recent years.

In August 2023, AEK Athens fan Michalis Katsouris was stabbed to death in violent clashes before the team’s Champions League game against Dinamo Zagreb. A year earlier, Greece was shocked when 19-year-old soccer fan Alkis Kampanos died in fighting between rival groups.

Authorities have promised to crack down to tackle the issue.

In April this year police arrested 63 people on charges of being members of a criminal organisation with links to sports violence.