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Over 228 fans of Olympiakos and Panathinaikos were arrested minutes before starting an affray this weekend. Like in the film The Football Factory (2004) based on the novel by John King, Greek football fans had organised a fighting match, which the police managed to thwart.

The police took off about 250 of the Olympiakos’ organized fans at the Neratziotissa station at 5:45 pm on Sunday. They were in the city electric train that travels along the route Piraeus-Kifissia. A large amount of Molotov bombs was found as well as light bombs, knives, daggers and small pocket blades, 20 wooden bats and brass knuckle dusters. The red hooligans were on their way to Irini station at the Olympic stadium (one stop after Neratsiotisa) to meet their eternal opponents – the football fans of Panathinaikos. The supporters of the greens, in turn, had gone out from the closed basketball court at OAKA 15 minutes before the end of the match and went to the Irini bus stop, which was the battlefield of the hooligans of both teams.

The police were at the meeting point and did not allow the fans of Olympiakos to get off the electric train. They started a check while the train was running to the next stop. When the doors opened at Neratziotissa stop, the hooligans dispersed leaving behind different weapons in the city train - a kitchen knife, five pocketknives, an iron stick with a sharp point, folding sticks, three light missiles, six naked blades, a belt with an iron knuckle duster, about 10 Molotov cocktails and 3.75 g of raw marijuana.

Police met many of the football hooligans on Andrea Papandreou Street in the Athens’ neighbourhood of Maroussi near The Mall Athens. The arrests were made in this area and the 228 people captured were taken to the central police department in Attica. According to the data, 200 of them were released after being fingerprinted. The department of the Athens police for preventing violence in organized sports has begun an investigation to determine the ownership of the detected objects and to assign personal criminal liability. Officers will process the items found one by one to establish to whom they belong. The reports, which cover felony offences, were made under the supervision of the capital prosecutor in the first instance. Three of those arrested will appear in court today because they have pending sentences.

The weapons and available materials found suggest that clashes would inevitably have lead to severe or fatal consequences. Football hooliganism in Greece has deep roots, but in recent years, the situation has been seriously deteriorating with constant attacks of members and representatives of different football clubs. A week ago, a rival football team placed five kilos of dynamite in the office of the fan club of Panathinaikos in the metropolitan district of Peristeri. There were no victims, but besides the demolition of the football club, the buildings in the area suffered significant damage.

The Football Factory, 2004: