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Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis chaired a meeting on sports
violence on Monday and government spokesman Giannis Oikonomou
said afterwards the government would submit a bill reforming the
sports sector to parliament in the coming weeks.
Greek soccer has been plagued by violence on and off the pitch
and authorities have in recent years repeatedly promised to
clean up the game.
So far at least nine people have been arrested over the killing
of Alkis Kampanos, who was beaten and stabbed to death outside
the Aris Thessaloniki club's stadium in the northern city of
Thessaloniki on the night of Feb. 1
He and two other males were attacked by a group of people on the
street, reportedly after a brief brawl over the team they
supported.
There is a strong rivalry between Aris and the city's other team
PAOK. Kampanos was an Aris supporter.
In Greece, fights between football fans and clubs are frequent
before or after a game. It is not uncommon for a match to be
disrupted by crowd trouble or a pitch invasion, despite the
heavy fines imposed.
The reforms planned by the government would include tightening
rules over the operation of soccer clubs, imposing heavier
penalties and increasing police controls to avert such events.
"Combating violence among youths and football fans is our
obligation to the Greek society and the younger generation,"
Oikonomouhe said. "We expect everyone to contribute to eliminate
sports violence".
The killing has shocked the nation. People have laid flowers and
left candles, handwritten notes and soccer jerseys with his name
at the crime scene. One of them read "Never again" .
(Reporting by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
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