Dozens Arrested in Crackdown on Soccer Violence in Greece

Police in Greece have arrested dozens of suspects in a crackdown on soccer violence that led to the death of a police officer in December.

Police officer Giorgos Lyggeridis, 31, died on Dec. 27 after being hit by a flare during violence between rival fans at a volleyball game in Athens.

Greek police chief Dimitris Mallios said 60 people were arrested by Monday afternoon, in an operation that started late Sunday.

All were organized Olympiacos fans, some described by police sources as leading members of Gate 7, the most popular association of organized fans of Olympiacos. They are to be charged on a case-by-case basis with incitement and complicity in the killing of the officer.

Some of them were found to have had not only a physical presence but also an organizational role in the attacks on the riot police unit outside the Melina Merkouri Stadium in Athens.

Their involvement emerged from witness statements, videos and the lifting of telephone privacy.

The leading suspects of soccer violence in Greece

Police have identified five people at the top of the hierarchy. One of them is known in the ranks of organized Olympiacos fans by the name Joseph.

In many videos of incidents in stadiums around Greece, he appears to participate in an organizational role with a team accreditation around his neck. He was also allegedly present during the December incident, instructing people in the stadium stands to come out and attack the police.

The second of the group of five is the 26-year-old manager of a trap singer and head of an association of organized fans. The third is a 30-year-old who a decade ago had been sentenced to a prison term without parole for setting fire in 2012 to the barber shop of a Pakistani national, acting then on behalf of the now defunct extreme-right Golden Dawn party.

Mallios said the arrests followed an investigation carried out under “high secrecy” over the past four months that confirmed links between sports violence and organized crime.

“Evidence emerged about a criminal organization, consisting of 158 people, that since 2019 at least carried out criminal acts” in the greater Athens region and the cities of Volos and Ioannina to the north, Mallios said.

He added that 58 homes and 15 vehicles were searched in the crackdown, and seized items included handguns, knives, drugs and wooden clubs.

“We have an absolute commitment to fight sports violence,” the police chief said.

Greek hooligans responsible for several deaths in the last decade

Greek soccer is plagued by endemic fan violence, which often spreads to other sports in which the main clubs field teams, such as basketball and volleyball.

In February 2022 in Thessaloniki, 19-year-old Alkis Kambanos was murdered by a gang of people, who attacked him and his friends in the street. The assailants, supporters of the football club PAOK, asked Kambanos and his friends what football team they supported.

The answer did not satisfy them, and they proceeded to beat and stabbing with knives Kambanos and his two friends.

In August 2023 Michalis Katsouris a fan of AEK Athens was stabbed to death during a brawl with hooligans of the Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb.

Police said nearly 100 people were arrested after the violent clashes, which led European football’s governing body, UEFA, to postpone the Champions League qualifying third-round, first-leg match between the two sides.

Since 1983, when the first death was recorded, at least 13 people have lost their lives in Greece as a result of football hooligan violence and a plethora of violent attacks against rival football team supporters or the police have taken place.