Interrupted derby Panathinaikos Olympiakos declared champion | Sport

Catastrophic, but unfortunately also common scenes from one of the biggest basketball derbies in the world

Olympiakos are champions of Greece after the fourth leg of the final there was abandoned due to rampaging Panathinaikos fans. The interruption due to shooting, cannon shots and use of lasers lasted about an hour, and then the referees outside the field decided not to continue playing. The team from Piraeus led the series 2-1 and was declared the new champion.

The fans started throwing various objects on the field with about 13 minutes to go, when Olympiakos was in a convincing lead, 63:35. There were smoke bombs, flares, and the coaches and players of Olympiakos retreated to the dressing room, while the players of Panathinaikos remained on the field. However, the smoke was huge and there were no conditions for the game to continue, while the home fans were already heading for the exit. However, not everyone did.

Some hooligans stayed in the hall, destroyed the seats and threw them in all directions, and computers and monitors were allegedly stolen from the scorer’s table. Considering all that, it was quite logical for the judges to play the end away from such chaos and to declare Olympiakos the new-old champion of Greece.