The Greek government announced on Thursday a three-phase plan to introduce closed circuit TV cameras at every top flight soccer and basketball game by the autumn to combat crowd violence. The first high profile event to benefit from the cameras will be soccer's Champions League final, which will be played at the Olympic Stadium on May 23.
However, according to state television, the cameras will not be ready for the Final Four of the Euroleague basketball which also takes place at the Olympic complex in early May. Electronic ticketing is also to be introduced. At least one English team will be in the Champions League final with Liverpool and Chelsea meeting in a semi-final. The other semi-final pits Manchester United against AC Milan.
Government spokesman Theodoros Roussopoulos made the announcement after an inter-ministerial meeting chaired by Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. "The police will know where everyone will be seated. Responsibility is now personified," Roussopoulos told reporters.
"With decisiveness and cautiousness we are proceeding so that small groups cannot enforce the law of the jungle and so that we can all enjoy every sporting event and watch a match in a civilised manner."
Roussopoulos said that over the next two months the first venues to be equipped with CCTV will be the Olympic Stadium, home ground of AEK Athens and Panathinaikos, the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus which belongs to Olympiakos and a number of other fields that host first division teams.
The government had already said it would install cameras and introduce electronic ticketing at Super League matches for the 2007-8 season but the murder of a Panathinaikos supporter on his way to a women's volleyball game two weeks ago has pushed through the announcement of the timetable. Sports minister George Orfanos played down suggestions that there would be hooliganism at the Champions League final. "There will be no riots. Our authorities are well prepared," he told reporters. "We will take the necessary measures before, during and after the game."
At least one English team will be in the Champions League final with Liverpool and Chelsea meeting in a semi-final. The other semi-final pits Manchester United against AC Milan. United fans were involved in violent clashes with AS Roma fans and police at both legs of the quarter-final between the two clubs, notably in Rome last week.