Marko Lukunic/PIXSELL/Sipa USA/AP
A view of the OPAP Arena before a Dinamo Zagreb training session in Athens, Greece, ahead of the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League game between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb.
CNN
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A Champions League match in Greece has been postponed after a fan died during a brawl with supporters of Croatian club Dinamo Zagreb, European soccer’s governing body UEFA said on Tuesday.
The Greek football fan died on Monday night in Athens after he was “injured by a sharp object,” Greek police told CNN.
The police said they arrested 96 people including 87 Croats and five Greeks. One Austrian, one German, one Bosnian and one Albanian were also arrested, they said.
According to Greek state broadcaster ERT, the victim is a 22-year-old AEK supporter. Eight other people were injured in the brawl, including a minor with a stone wound to the head, per ERT.
The Greek state broadcaster reported that a group of 150-200 organized Dinamo fans entered Greece in several cars, despite a ban on the movement of fans from Croatia ahead of the game.
The incident happened in the Nea Filadelfeia neighborhood in the outskirts of Athens, home of the AEK Athens football club’s home stadium, where the Champions League qualifying match between AEK and Dinamo Zagreb had been due to take place on Tuesday.
However, UEFA said that the “conditions for the match” to go ahead “are not met” following consultation with local authorities, resulting in the game’s postponement.
“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,” European football’s governing body said in statement.
“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 we expect that those responsible for this terrible act be arrested and consigned to justice in the shortest delay,” added UEFA.
The first-leg match will now be played on either Friday, August 18 or Saturday, August 19, with the originally scheduled second leg in the team’s Champions League qualification tie taking place next week in Zagreb as planned, with UEFA reiterating that no away fans would be permitted at either of the two games.
