The government announced a new package of measures after the new incident of fan violence and the serious injury of a 31-year-old police officer who is hospitalized in a critical condition.
Among the things announced by the government representative, Pavlos Marinakis, is the holding of Super league 1 games behind closed doors until February 12, 2024. This measure will also be extended to the B teams of the Super League 1 clubs participating in the Super League.
The specific measure may be extended to home European matches on a case-by-case basis. In fact, Mr. Marinakis mentioned that the match between Olympiacos and Batska Topola for the Europa League will be played behind closed doors next Thursday (14/12, 22:00) at the "Georgios Karaiskakis" stadium.
Clarifying, Mr. Marinakis, then and answering a related question, said that through the Act of Legislative Content, within the specific time period, it is possible to issue joint ministerial decisions by the Ministers of Citizen Protection and the Deputy Minister of Sports for cases of European competitions of Greek groups. "The first decision for this week is issued for the Olympiacos match, for obvious reasons, after the tragic events that happened. It will be reviewed and it only applies to what I mentioned and not to something else, some other sport and only in this case" he clarified.
At the same time, the installation and operation of high-definition cameras will be implemented in the stadiums of the Super League 1 teams, while an electronic fan entry system with simultaneous identity verification will be implemented. As Mr. Marinakis said, the sanctions against the groups will also be automatic in cases of incidents beyond those foreseen by the Justice.
Then Mr. Marinakis announced that the Minister of Citizen Protection, Yiannis Oikonomou and the Deputy Minister of Sports, Yiannis Vroutsis will go to the Supreme Court's prosecution to contribute to the criminal investigation of the crimes of fan violence.
During the introductory statement, the government representative emphasized that "we must do everything in our power. We owe it to all the victims of fan violence, to those who were put in danger, to those who lost property and to those who were deprived of the opportunity to go to the stadium with their children."
At another point, he emphasized that "we reiterate, once again, our undivided support for him and his family and we wish him to emerge victorious from this battle", while he expressed his congratulations to the Greek Police because, through the direct, professional and her effective actions, the self-confessed natural perpetrator of this horrible crime was arrested. "Unfortunately, this case also shows that behind the natural perpetrators of all these acts there are often one or more moral perpetrators, those who support them and those who tolerate them."
Briefing of political editors by Government Spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis
The announcements of Mr. Marinakis in detail:
1. The conduct of all Super League 1 games behind closed doors for the next 2 months, i.e. until February 12, 2024. This measure will also be extended to the home games of the B teams of super league 2 which belong to the respective PAE of the first professional class. A relevant Act of Legislative Content is issued today with immediate application, which will provide, at the same time, that with the issuance of a Joint Ministerial Decision of the Minister of Citizen Protection and the Deputy Minister of Sports, this measure will be able to be extended, on a case-by-case basis, to home European matches of the Greek groups for the protection of public order and security.
The execution of the penalties for holding games without spectators that have already been imposed until the publication of the Legislative Content Act or that are imposed during the period of its application is suspended until 12 February 2024.
The first relevant Joint Ministerial Decision will be issued for Olympiakos' upcoming home match against Batska Topola for the Europa League, which will be played behind closed doors for obvious security reasons following the recent tragic events.
2. Until February 12, 2024, the results of the application of the above decision will be evaluated, in order to consider the extension of its application, in the event that the legal conditions for the safe conduct of football matches are not fully respected. The aim is to avoid risks to the life and physical integrity of the participants, as well as the maximum possible safeguarding of public order and safety.
By this date, the fulfillment of the following conditions will be considered:
– Installation and operation of high-definition cameras in accordance with UEFA specifications in all the super league 1 stadiums and at the same time seamless possibility of their control and utilization of their material by the competent authorities and
– Fan electronic entry system with simultaneous identity verification. Additionally, within the period of these 2 months, the Deputy Minister of Sports will announce a series of administrative measures, including automatic sanctions against teams in cases of incidents, beyond what is provided for in sports justice.
3. Tomorrow, Tuesday, December 12, 2023, the Minister of Citizen Protection Yiannis Oikonomou and the Deputy Minister of Sports Yiannis Vroutsis will visit the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court Ms. Georgia Adeilinis and will request on behalf of the Government the criminal upgrading of the investigation for all cases of sports violence and corruption in order to search for physical and moral perpetrators of all the crimes that have been committed and to search for the existence of any criminal organizations in the area.
In addition, the Ministers will present all the evidence available to the authorities for evaluation in the context of the investigative process and will inform the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office that the Greek state will not show any tolerance for these phenomena.
"We will not stop for a minute, we will continue even more dynamically"
Continuing, Pavlos Marinakis noted that "we believe that the measures that we are announcing and immediately starting to implement will prove to be sufficient in order to deal with this phenomenon of alienation", while in a different case he clarified that "if, however, we judge that even tougher but fair measures, we assure every Greek man and woman that we will not hesitate for a moment. We will not stop for a minute, we will continue even more vigorously, until all of our initiatives are implemented and benefit the citizens."
The government representative continued by saying that "the difficult but self-evident battle against all forms of delinquency, not only inside, but also outside the stadiums, in universities, in schools, in the neighborhoods, in every corner of the country is for us the most sacred duty towards the set of citizens and our greatest responsibility for future generations. As the Prime Minister emphasized in yesterday's weekly report: "however difficult it is to fight the so-called fan violence, we will continue the effort and fight to win this battle. No matter how high those who instigate it or even tolerate it"".
Source: protothema.gr