The trial of the Olympiakos chair, Evangelos Marinakis, and dozens of soccer followers started in Greece on Wednesday, the most important case of its variety linked to sports-related violence that authorities have vowed to crack down on.
In complete, 142 followers face expenses of operating against the law organisation and inflicting life-threatening explosions at sporting occasions. They've denied wrongdoing.
Marinakis, a delivery and media tycoon who additionally owns Nottingham Forest, and one other 4 board members are accused of supporting the alleged legal group in 2019-24 and instigating violence with statements towards authorities. They've dismissed the misdemeanour expenses as groundless.
Marinakis was not within the packed courtroom at Athens' high-security Korydallos jail on Wednesday and was represented by his lawyer. Masked cops guarded a number of defendants nonetheless in detention.
Greater than 210 individuals will testify earlier than the three-member bench through the trial, which legal professionals estimate might final greater than a 12 months.
Violence has plagued sport in Greece lately. Hardcore supporters, following the identical membership throughout completely different sports activities, steadily conflict with police outdoors stadiums and with rival followers in organized road brawls. Hooliganism can also be a significant concern for European soccer's governing physique, Uefa.
The investigation was launched after the 2023 deadly harm of a 31-year-old riot police officer, George Lyngeridis, in clashes outdoors a girls's volleyball match between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos, a usually low-risk recreation.
Earlier than that match, a number of the followers moved a bag of flares and makeshift explosives from a storage room at their soccer stadium to the volleyball venue, the investigation discovered. Lyngeridis was hit by a flare through the clashes and died from his accidents weeks later.
It was Greece's third fatality in sports activities violence in 2022-2023 and prompted the highest courtroom prosecutor to induce a clampdown on legal gangs linked with sports activities.
