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Reuters
Reuters
Politics

Greek Super League match abandoned after violence

Panathinaikos' fans burn Olympiacos banners during their Superleague match at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium in Athens, Greece, March 17, 2019. Stelios Volitakis/Intimenews via REUTERS

ATHENS (Reuters) - Panathinaikos' match at home to Olympiakos Piraeus was abandoned on Sunday after their fans attacked players on the visiting team's bench during the Greek Super League match and clashed with police outside the OAKA Stadium.

About four minutes after the Athens derby kickoff, Panathinaikos fans invaded the area surrounding the pitch and attacked Olympiakos players on the team's bench. The match was stopped for about eight minutes before resuming.

Violence erupted again outside the stadium after Olympiakos scored the only goal of the match through Miguel Angel Guerrero in the 53rd minute. Police used tear gas to disperse Panathinaikos fans, TV images showed.

Panathinaikos fans flee tear gas fired by riot police amid clashes during their Superleague match against Olympiacos at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium in Athens, Greece, March 17, 2019. Stelios Volitakis/Intimenews via REUTERS

Tear gas wafted onto the pitch, affecting players and fans. German referee Marco Fritz abandoned the match in the 70th minute.

Olympiakos were awarded the victory, while Panathinaikos face a possible points deduction and a fine.

With the three points from Sunday's game, second-placed Olympiakos have 60 points, seven adrift of league leaders PAOK, while Panathinaikos are seventh on 32 points.

Panathinaikos and Olympiacos players pause as Panathinaikos fans flee tear gas fired by riot police amid clashes during their Superleague match at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium in Athens, Greece, March 17, 2019. Yorgos Matthaiou/Intimenews via REUTERS

(Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Ros Russell)

Panathinaikos fans flee tear gas fired by riot police amid clashes during their Superleague match against Olympiacos at the OAKA Spiros Louis stadium in Athens, Greece, March 17, 2019. Stelios Stefanou/Intimenews via REUTERS
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