Violence sees Athens derby abandoned

Crowd trouble on Sunday forced the postponement of the Greek derby between Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, as rioting broke out in the stands and supporters set fire to seats and threw missiles. Referee Tasos Kakos halted the match at the Olympic Stadium between first place Olympiakos and second-place Panathinaikos in the 83rd minute of play when rioting broke out for a second time after half-time disturbances. Olympiakos were winning 1-0 from a goal in the 51st minute by French-born Algerian midfielder Djamel Abdoun. Violence broke out during the half-time break, meaning start of the second period was delayed by 50 minutes until the it subsided. The referee's decision to call off the match means a decision will now be made whether to replay the game or award the points to Olympiakos. Some 60,000 fans attended the match, all of them from Panathinaikos after a ban on Olympiakos supporters in anticipation of crowd trouble.