Iraklis vs Olympiakos put off on police shortage claims
The Super League match between Iraklis and champion Olympiakos scheduled for Sunday has been postponed on the orders of Deputy Sports Minister Stavros Kontonis after a request by police.
Kontonis accepted a request by police to call off the game in the Thessaloniki because of a lack of available officers and a fear of violence following a troubled week for the Greek game.
Police said their staff had been depleted due to great numbers of officers being deployed to the northern Greek border town of Idomeni, where thousands of migrants are gathered waiting to cross the border into the Former Yugoslav Macedonia.
The match will be rescheduled at a later date.
The game was considered a high security risk after Wednesday's Greek Cup semi-final, first leg between PAOK and Olympiakos in Thessaloniki had to be abandoned with the visitors leading 2-1 in the 89th minute because of crowd trouble.
Authorities responded to the trouble by cancelling the rest of this season's Greek Cup.
It will be the first time no winner has been crowned in that competition since 1962, when fighting between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos supporters led to the final being abandoned and never replayed.
[AFP]
