Greek government BANS fans from attending top-flight matches until February as a police officer is injured in clashes between Olympiacos and Panathinaikos supporters
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The Greek government has announced top football matches will be played behind closed doors until February 12 after a police officer was injured in clashes between rival fans.
Action was taken after a police officer suffered a severed artery in his thigh during a volleyball match in Athens last week.
The match was between rivals Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, with both teams owned by football clubs of the same name.
Pavlos Marinakis, a government spokesman, announced after a meeting led by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis that all top football matches would be held behind closed doors for two months.
Marinakis said this action was the latest step taken by the government in its efforts to curb extreme fan violence.
Riot police were forced to break up violent clashes between fans last week, leaving one officer in critical condition after an artery in their thigh was severed by a flare
“The murderous attack on the police officer is not the first incident of extreme fan violence,” Marinakis told a news conference.
“For many years, criminals in the mantle of the fan have been committing serious crimes, causing serious injury and murder.
'We know and fully understand the anger of society, of all sensible citizens, towards images that do not refer to sports.
'From the first moment, the government has made it clear that it will exhaust its actions and interventions to tackle a chronic problem. And in fact, we have made it clear that our interventions will be dynamic, meaning they will be continually assessed based on their results.
“While we have given everyone the time and space to comply with our decisions, it has unfortunately become apparent that further interventions are needed that are even more drastic, but absolutely fair and necessary.
“Neither athletes nor fans should suffer the murderous behavior of criminal gangs and the pathetic tolerance of a small minority of fans.”
The Athens News Agency reported that the 18-year-old arrested for wounding the police officer confessed to the prosecutor's office on Monday.
After last week's violence, more than 400 people were briefly arrested by the police.
Marinakis has said the decision could also apply to European home matches, with clubs ordered to install cameras and electronic identification systems for fans in the stadiums.
The order will mean Olympiakos will have to play Serbian side Backa Topola behind closed doors in their final Europa League group match on Thursday.
Panathinaikos and PAOK will be able to welcome fans for their matches against Maccabi Haifa and HJK Helsinki respectively.
Last year, the Greek government increased the maximum sentence for fan violence from six months to five years.
The move came after 19-year-old Alkis Kampanos was killed during clashes between supporters of Aris Thessaloniki and PAOK.
Kampanos was the third death due to fan violence in a three-year period in Thessaloniki.
In August, a Champions League qualifier between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb was postponed after a fan was stabbed to death in the Greek capital.
The Greek supporter died after clashes between rival fans.