Policeman in critical condition after hooligan attack in Piraeus
A riot police officer is in hospital in critical condition after being attacked with a flare by Olympiakos fans at a volleyball game in Rentis, Piraeus on Thursday night.
Some 150 supporters of the Olympiakos volleyball club came out of the Melina Merkouri indoor arena at Rentis where the men’s League Cup match with eternal rival Panathinaikos was taking place, with the intention to clash with police, one day after the rallies in memory of a teenager killed by police in 2008.
The hooligans clashed with police using Molotov cocktails, stones, bats etc., but in one instance a riot police officer was hit on the leg by a flare that resulted in him bleeding unconscious.
The policeman was reportedly taken to a Piraeus hospital where he is in critical condition, while the volleyball game was abandoned as the air was filled with tear gas the police had used outside the court.
Reports in the Greek media noted that police have shut the gates of the indoor arena in order to arrest those involved in the violent incidents.
The riots came four days after the violent clashes recorded in the soccer game between Volos and Olympiakos, where police also had to resort to tear gas.
