Panathinaikos appear to have won their eighth consecutive basketball title after their fourth game against Olympiakos was suspended due to persistent crowd trouble with the Greens 2-1 up in the series and leading in the match.
Another sad chapter was written in the history of Greek sport on Sunday night and early Monday morning when Olympiakos fans managed to repeatedly disrupt Game 4 of the A1 final series by throwing objects, including bottles and smoke bombs at Panathinaikos players and fighting with riot police.
The Greens had a 76-69 lead over Olympiakos one minute from the end when a third outbreak of unruly behaviour from the stands led to the game being called off.
The referees awarded the game to Panathinaikos with a 20-0 score. The final result will be confirmed by a sports court, which is likely to award the game to Panathinaikos although the Reds may appeal this.
Officers used tear gas to quell rioting fans before the game began, leading to the game at the Peace and Friendship Stadium beginning 40 minutes late. Many Reds fans appeared to feel aggrieved about some of the referees’ decisions in Game 3, which Panathinaikos won.
Peace and friendship were in short supply in Neo Faliro and the game was stopped again after 25 minutes, with Panathinaikos leading 50-42 when a smoke bomb exploded next to the visitors’ bench.
At 10 minutes to midnight, this led to the referees leading both teams back into the locker rooms to allow the police to get a grip of the situation.
The stadium only had some 2,000 fans when the two teams returned at shortly before 1 a.m. to finish the game following repeated pleas by the Angelopoulos brothers, who own Olympiakos basketball club, as well as several of the players.
However, with just over a minute left on the clock in the fourth quarter and Panathinaikos leading 76-69, the few Reds’ fans left in the stadium started to throw water bottles and other objects onto the court, prompting the referees to suspend play again.
The end to the game rounds off a miserable season for Olympiakos, who were soundly beaten in the Euroleague final by Barcelona. For Panathinaikos, the A1 League title will be some consolation for an unusually poor showing in Europe but following Sunday’s events, nobody involved in Greek basketball can take any comfort.
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