Expected to happen on Saturday, Ghana global Michael Essien was unable to play his first league match for Greek club Panathinaikos in the Athens derby with Olympiacos, which was cancelled due to violence.
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The appearance of the visiting Olympiakos players on the pitch then prompted four flares to be thrown towards them by fans.
Referee Andreas Pappas made the decision 30 minutes after the game was scheduled to start, and immediately after that was announced to spectators, fans ran onto the pitch and fought with riot-trained police. Journalists were also set upon.
Fans and police had earlier clashed outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis stadium as ticketless supporters attempted to gain entry.
The club has also called on Panathinaikos fans to rally on Wednesday outside the club’s home ground at Alexandras Avenue in protest for the state of the Greek game.
The empty field was littered with hundreds of broken plastic chairs and a few metal pipes.
Olympiakos forward Alfred Finnbogason was even a victim of a flare, which hit him on the leg while he was filming the events which were unfolding on his cellphone.
The match official in charge of the Athens derby deemed that the ground was not safe for football following the incident and postponed the match.
Panathinaikos will likely forfeit the game and, depending on the referee’s report, it could also be decked points, fined and made to play a number of home games before empty stands.
It was hoped Saturday’s match would be an entertaining affair, with Olympiakos arriving on the back of a ideal 10-match winning streak since the start of the season.
“Over 50 persons were detained inside and outside the stadium…so far, 16 have been charged” with various offenses, police announced, adding that 3 policemen had been hurt in the line of duty.
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Olympiakos headed into Saturday’s fixture with an eight-point lead at the summit of the Greek Super League, although Nellas noted no away fans were in attendance.
