After a supporter was slain, today's Champions League match was postponed.
In 2023, AEK Athens was victorious in the Greek league for the first time in the previous five years, which allowed them to advance to the preliminary stages of the Champions League.
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The Champions League qualifier that was scheduled to take place on Tuesday between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb has been postponed following the stabbing murder of a fan in the Greek capital.
The Greek supporter, who was 29 years old, passed away as a result of fights that broke out between opposing fans on Monday evening outside of the Agia Sophia Stadium, which is located in a northern suburb of Athens.
According to the police, there were 98 arrests made and eight additional people were hurt.
Because of safety concerns, UEFA had imposed a ban on away fans attending either of the two legs of the third-round qualifying tie.
The governing body of European football issued a statement saying that the match would need to be postponed as a result of the disturbance and after consulting with the local authorities.
"Uefa deplores in the strongest possible terms the appalling incidents that took place in Athens last night and resulted in the loss of a life," Uefa said in a statement. "These appalling incidents took place in Athens last night and resulted in the loss of a life."
"While expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of the victim, to AEK Athens FC and its fans, we would like to reiterate that violence has no place in our sport and that we expect those responsible for this terrible act to be arrested and consigned to justice in the shortest delay possible." "While expressing our deepest sympathy to the family of the victim, to AEK Athens FC and its fans,"
The second match, the return leg, will go place as scheduled in Croatia on Tuesday, August 15, while the game in Athens will be rescheduled for either Friday, August 18, or Saturday, August 19, depending on availability.Greek police stated that the incident began ninety minutes after Croatian side Dinamo had finished a pre-match training session at the stadium in Nea Philadelphia and left under the protection of the police.
There were between 100 and 120 Dinamo supporters who turned up at the stadium, where they engaged in conflict with AEK supporters who had assembled there.
Fans on both sides "threw flares, improvised incendiary devices, objects, stones, and also used improvised bats" during the match.
According to the police, an initial investigation had been launched, and they were attempting to identify those responsible for the crime.
In a statement released by Dinamo Zagreb, the company said, "GNK Dinamo strongly condemns the riots that took place in Athens last night."
These kinds of events do not align with the standards of morality and decency that our club and our community stand for.
"We like to convey our profound worry on this tragedy. The staff and management of GNK Dinamo would like to extend their deepest sympathies to the family and friends of the deceased.
Hooliganism has been a problem in Greek football in recent years, and following another tragic stabbing, the government extended the maximum term for crimes of fan violence from six months to five years last year.
Alkis Kampanos, who was 19 years old at the time of his death, was slain in Thessaloniki in February 2022 following a confrontation between supporters of the city's competing soccer clubs, PAOK and Aris.
Seven defendants were convicted guilty of his murder and condemned to life in prison at a trial that took place one month ago. Five more people were sentenced to more than 19 years in prison for their cooperation in the crime.
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