Serious questions arise about the way the Greek authorities dealt with the Croatian hooligans, in the shocking case of Monday's clashes in New Philadelphia, with the victim 29-year-old Michalis, a fan of AEK. Revealing documents of EL.AS. that come to light, confirm that the Police had been informed in time about their entry into Greece, while in the report of the Sports Violence Department special reference was made to their unscrupulous profile.
At the same time, the documents informed about the hooligans' modus operandi, their possible targets in Greece, as well as where they would stay in Athens.
The report was drawn up 24 hours before the incidents. From the very first moment it becomes clear that this is an extremely dangerous match in which anything was possible.
"The football match between the teams "A.E.K. – DINAMO ZAGREB" is characterized in terms of threat - risk as "High" risk. It is noted that the risk of bullying is dynamic and constantly changing, while it is influenced by many factors," states the report of the Department of Sports Violence.
The warnings were clear and targeted as it turned out that after arriving in Athens, the hooligans, in groups to avoid detection, used ISAP, at the Irini and Pefkakia stations to arrive in an orderly fashion at the Philadelphia stadium.
The questions are relentless and demand answers. Because while the police knew about the descent of the Croatian hooligans who crossed 6 prefectures of the country undisturbed, they did not send MAT forces, at least here outside the OPAP Arena, to avoid the fatality even at the last moment.
The Sports Violence Department also had information from the Croatian authorities that:
About 100 organized fans are expected
They will move in vans and vehicles through Montenegro and Albania (trying not to attract the attention of the authorities)
"It is not possible for some Police officers to operate in such a childish manner. Some didn't even know the fact sheets. They hadn't read it. An urgent, classified document, talking about people, about a criminal organization. So if they were Turkish nationalists and entered the border, would they be able to reach the Constitution? This is inadmissible," said the president of the Southeastern Attica Police Union, Giorgos Kalliakmanis.
However, the Montenegrin authorities, as evidenced in a document, had sounded the alarm in Athens. They reported that 100 to 200 people who are characterized as dangerous fans of Dinamo Zagreb are heading to Greece to watch the match.
"On 07/09/2023 between 03.00 and 06.00h at the Bozai border station on the way out of Montenegro, border police officers checked citizens of the Republic of Croatia (about 120 passengers) of young age, who are estimated to be traveling to Greece to watch the football match between FC AEK and GNK DINAMO' is highlighted.
"I don't know if the removal of the traffic chiefs was appropriate. It is also not possible to see in the city at electricity meter stations these murderers with cards and costs and that the police are not there to arrest them, I wonder if there is a police in Attica, are they in charge, why are they still in their positions? Perhaps for the first time in the annals of the Greek police, some very high echelons will leave," says the EL.AS officer. e.a. Cave Cricket.
"Guided masterfully by some nightmares, these individuals before a certain point broke in various directions with the result that the operational plan that may have existed went wrong somewhere," said the warden and deputy general secretary of the Thessaloniki Employees' Union, Christos Symeonidis.
Errors and omissions
According to information from ERT, the police officers in Kakavia claim that they had informed the competent services in Athens, initially by phone and then by e-mail, that cars and vans with Croatian license plates were passing one after the other.
Specifically:
on Monday at 10:28 a.m., police officers in Kakavia claim to have received a signal from Interpol about fan movements.
At 11:00 they informed the competent services in Athens by phone that vehicles with Croats were indeed passing through, but without group badges or anything illegal and suspicious and they asked them "What do you want us to do".
From Athens they were instructed to record the details of the drivers, vehicles and number plates and update again. The above was done over the phone, according to what they claim.
At 13:30 – 14:15 they send an e-mail to the address for fan violence with the details of all Croats: vehicles, license plates, and the drivers on board.
As they claim, they did not receive any response and by that time the vehicles had passed through their area of responsibility.
A signal came at 16:30 p.m. and they are asked to check the detection and tracking of the suspicious vehicles.
The profile of the "bad blue boys"
The pre-match report profiles the Bad Blue Boys, Dinamo Zagreb's organized supporters, and points out how dangerous they are.
In particular, they are characterized as:
The most die-hard fans in Europe
Fascist-Nazi mood
Skinhead participation
They themselves seek conflicts. In fact, they are characterized by:
extreme – violent behaviours
use of firecrackers - sparklers
bats
Molotov bombs
vandalism
use of physical violence
knife attacks
At the same time, reference is made to the fact that they are twinned and support each other both at the national level and at the European level with organized fans of the Greek team.
The causes are still being sought and in an attempt to assign responsibility, seven ELAS officers have already been removed.
According to information, other "caratomes" are expected.
Source: ERT