FOOTBALL AND VIOLENCE IN PIRAEA
A defeat, a pitch invasion, a riot, and a blemished reputation
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29 September 2019 |Alikianos, Piraea
Amathian ultras invading the pitch after the final whistle
Photo courtesy of Gheorghe Arun
Alikianos, Piraea -
Hopes and dreams. The end of a curse. Amathia's first participation in a Coupe de Monde in over 20 years, and the first chance of the Scutierii Roșii to show their best to the entire world. Who would have imagined that it would end like this?
Some might argue that the signs were there from the very beginning. A poor international record over the past few decades has denied Amathian teams the opportunity to play many games abroad, and a similar slow decline of its national football league has kept the games of its team out of the attention of international fans. The behavior of the main Amathian ultras groups is well known especially in Arciluco, where the century-long rivalry between Amathia's finest teams, Citadela Arciluco and Astra Arciluco has often led to riots and clashes between opposing forces of hooligans. Despite that however, the behavior of Amathian fans during the qualifying rounds of the past decade, despite the constant failures of Amathia's national team, has been exemplary - which might excuse the expectations of most foreign observers. Taken over by feverish dreams of Amathia's golden age in football, the fans which left for Piraea had high hopes. Hopes that would soon be dashed.
The first game of the Amathian Eagles in the Coupe du Monde of this generation ended in perhaps the most frustrating way possible a 3-3 draw with Xiaodong, after a tense 90 minutes race which saw both teams hold victory in their grasps several times. The seeds of agitation were planted during this game - and as the game ended, there were a few good moments of unrest in the stands, but the situation seemed to calm down as the Amathian players approached their fans to thank them for their support and their presence. The frustration did however spill over - in the evening, a group of still unidentified Amathian soccer fans got into a fight with some fans from Rwizikuru, a fight during which racist slurs were used, and which led to both groups of fans being kicked out of their hotel. But despite a public apology from Teodor Vulpeș, the manager of the Red Squires, in the name of all fans, no one could have expected the bad side of Amathia's football fans to be revealed the way it was.
The first thirty-four minutes of the game passed without any incidents, as the Amathian team desperately tried to resist the vicious attacks of the Purple Devils. But then, the gates were broken, and Caldia surged forward with a goal from Yahli Benayoun, the team's Tsabaran star. But the flame of hope was only extinguished in the second half of the game. All the Amathian efforts seemed to be in vain, as Caldia dominated the game, the difference between the skills of the two teams being obvious even to an untrained observer. The White-Reds had their only chance to turn the game around early in the second half, but their sole shot on goal was defended by Rónán Ó Flanagáin, the Caldian goalkeeper's only important action. The rest of the game was simply put - a massacre. A second goal followed, when Ó Loingsigh's ball managed to get past Andreescu, but all hell broke loose towards the end of the game.
Pîrvulescu grabbed Benayoun's jersey, and in a highly controversial decision which stopped the game for a few minutes as the Amathians tried to argue with the referee, Caldia was granted a penalty. And while Benyaoun was preparing to shoot the penalty kick, the Amathian supporters began to aggressively chant and shout racial and religious slurs at him, shocking the entire stadium, and the entire world by the sheer scale of it. Despite the Caldian dominance of the pitch, the stands were clearly dominated by the Amathians, with their homeland much closer to Piraea than that of their opponents - and as the entire stadium broke out into violent racist chants, the world was shaken. And the Amathian players were shaken too - as despite their pleas for their fans to behave, and their apologies to their Caldian colleagues, the fans continued to shout.
Benyaoun's third goal finally broke all the hopes that Amathia had to at least earn a draw, and this humiliating defeat really brought the worst out of the fans. As soon as the game ended with the final whistle, violence broke out. A large group of Amathian fans invaded the pitch, trying to attack the Caldian team - while at the same time, in the stands, seemingly well-organized groups of Amathian ultras tried to assault the sections of the stadium occupied by the fans of the Purple Devils. On the field, some of the Amathian players intercepted their own fans, trying to protect the Caldians, and most visible among them was Diegis Iordache, the team's captain, and a player for Scuad Peile Rioga - one of Caldia's leading football teams. Iordache tried to physically stop one of the fans, which led to a fight and to Iordache being punched several times and having to leave the pitch with a bloody nose. As the players were quickly led towards the locker rooms however, the security intervened, and pushed the fans out of the pitch, while those in the stands peacefully left the stadium. But this was only a brief respite.
Outside of the stadium, the main groups of Amathian ultras started coordinated a full-blown riot, destroying cars, breaking windows, setting things on fire and engaging into quite brutal street fights - both among themselves and against other groups of fans that they could intercept, leading to the Piraean police having to intervene in full riot-gear - only being able to disperse them with rubber bullets and tear-gas.
The game's aftermath left the Amathian team confused and ashamed. Not only are their dreams of progressing past the group-stage dependent not only on a victory with Nurvania, but also on the result of Caldia's next game with Xiadong, but the team's reputation was severely affected by the behavior of their fans. Teodor Vulpes, the Amathian manager, repeatedly apologized for the conduct of the fans in a press conference after the game, not mentioning the actual result of the game in any way. "The violent racists walking around the streets can not, in good conscience, call themselves Amathian supporters. Their behavior is a complete betrayal of everything our team stands for, and I would like for Caldia's team and especially for Yahli Benayoun to understand that our team completely and utterly condemns such things. We can only apologize for something that is beyond our control, and we want to wish Caldia's team the best of luck in the Round of 16. And of course, we hope that any future games between our teams will be held away from the shadow that covered tonight's game."
The manager's still relatively calm declaration was however quickly overshadowed by an interview with Diegis Iordache, who in a violent outburst on live TV, heavily condemned all the fans which took part in the racist chanting and in the violent rioting both inside and outside of the stadium. Sadly, the words that he used to describe the fans, and the words that he used to describe what he would do to do the hooligan who punched him can not be reproduced here.
The next week's game against Nurvania will be decisive. The Red Squires still have mathematical chances to move to the next round - a victory against Nurvania and a Caldian victory against Xiaodong would be the best case scenario, but hope exists even in the case of a draw.
Adevărul will continue to keep you posted on the latest events in the Coupe du Monde.
Hopes and dreams. The end of a curse. Amathia's first participation in a Coupe de Monde in over 20 years, and the first chance of the Scutierii Roșii to show their best to the entire world. Who would have imagined that it would end like this?
Some might argue that the signs were there from the very beginning. A poor international record over the past few decades has denied Amathian teams the opportunity to play many games abroad, and a similar slow decline of its national football league has kept the games of its team out of the attention of international fans. The behavior of the main Amathian ultras groups is well known especially in Arciluco, where the century-long rivalry between Amathia's finest teams, Citadela Arciluco and Astra Arciluco has often led to riots and clashes between opposing forces of hooligans. Despite that however, the behavior of Amathian fans during the qualifying rounds of the past decade, despite the constant failures of Amathia's national team, has been exemplary - which might excuse the expectations of most foreign observers. Taken over by feverish dreams of Amathia's golden age in football, the fans which left for Piraea had high hopes. Hopes that would soon be dashed.
The first game of the Amathian Eagles in the Coupe du Monde of this generation ended in perhaps the most frustrating way possible a 3-3 draw with Xiaodong, after a tense 90 minutes race which saw both teams hold victory in their grasps several times. The seeds of agitation were planted during this game - and as the game ended, there were a few good moments of unrest in the stands, but the situation seemed to calm down as the Amathian players approached their fans to thank them for their support and their presence. The frustration did however spill over - in the evening, a group of still unidentified Amathian soccer fans got into a fight with some fans from Rwizikuru, a fight during which racist slurs were used, and which led to both groups of fans being kicked out of their hotel. But despite a public apology from Teodor Vulpeș, the manager of the Red Squires, in the name of all fans, no one could have expected the bad side of Amathia's football fans to be revealed the way it was.
The first thirty-four minutes of the game passed without any incidents, as the Amathian team desperately tried to resist the vicious attacks of the Purple Devils. But then, the gates were broken, and Caldia surged forward with a goal from Yahli Benayoun, the team's Tsabaran star. But the flame of hope was only extinguished in the second half of the game. All the Amathian efforts seemed to be in vain, as Caldia dominated the game, the difference between the skills of the two teams being obvious even to an untrained observer. The White-Reds had their only chance to turn the game around early in the second half, but their sole shot on goal was defended by Rónán Ó Flanagáin, the Caldian goalkeeper's only important action. The rest of the game was simply put - a massacre. A second goal followed, when Ó Loingsigh's ball managed to get past Andreescu, but all hell broke loose towards the end of the game.
Pîrvulescu grabbed Benayoun's jersey, and in a highly controversial decision which stopped the game for a few minutes as the Amathians tried to argue with the referee, Caldia was granted a penalty. And while Benyaoun was preparing to shoot the penalty kick, the Amathian supporters began to aggressively chant and shout racial and religious slurs at him, shocking the entire stadium, and the entire world by the sheer scale of it. Despite the Caldian dominance of the pitch, the stands were clearly dominated by the Amathians, with their homeland much closer to Piraea than that of their opponents - and as the entire stadium broke out into violent racist chants, the world was shaken. And the Amathian players were shaken too - as despite their pleas for their fans to behave, and their apologies to their Caldian colleagues, the fans continued to shout.
Benyaoun's third goal finally broke all the hopes that Amathia had to at least earn a draw, and this humiliating defeat really brought the worst out of the fans. As soon as the game ended with the final whistle, violence broke out. A large group of Amathian fans invaded the pitch, trying to attack the Caldian team - while at the same time, in the stands, seemingly well-organized groups of Amathian ultras tried to assault the sections of the stadium occupied by the fans of the Purple Devils. On the field, some of the Amathian players intercepted their own fans, trying to protect the Caldians, and most visible among them was Diegis Iordache, the team's captain, and a player for Scuad Peile Rioga - one of Caldia's leading football teams. Iordache tried to physically stop one of the fans, which led to a fight and to Iordache being punched several times and having to leave the pitch with a bloody nose. As the players were quickly led towards the locker rooms however, the security intervened, and pushed the fans out of the pitch, while those in the stands peacefully left the stadium. But this was only a brief respite.
Outside of the stadium, the main groups of Amathian ultras started coordinated a full-blown riot, destroying cars, breaking windows, setting things on fire and engaging into quite brutal street fights - both among themselves and against other groups of fans that they could intercept, leading to the Piraean police having to intervene in full riot-gear - only being able to disperse them with rubber bullets and tear-gas.
The game's aftermath left the Amathian team confused and ashamed. Not only are their dreams of progressing past the group-stage dependent not only on a victory with Nurvania, but also on the result of Caldia's next game with Xiadong, but the team's reputation was severely affected by the behavior of their fans. Teodor Vulpes, the Amathian manager, repeatedly apologized for the conduct of the fans in a press conference after the game, not mentioning the actual result of the game in any way. "The violent racists walking around the streets can not, in good conscience, call themselves Amathian supporters. Their behavior is a complete betrayal of everything our team stands for, and I would like for Caldia's team and especially for Yahli Benayoun to understand that our team completely and utterly condemns such things. We can only apologize for something that is beyond our control, and we want to wish Caldia's team the best of luck in the Round of 16. And of course, we hope that any future games between our teams will be held away from the shadow that covered tonight's game."
The manager's still relatively calm declaration was however quickly overshadowed by an interview with Diegis Iordache, who in a violent outburst on live TV, heavily condemned all the fans which took part in the racist chanting and in the violent rioting both inside and outside of the stadium. Sadly, the words that he used to describe the fans, and the words that he used to describe what he would do to do the hooligan who punched him can not be reproduced here.
The next week's game against Nurvania will be decisive. The Red Squires still have mathematical chances to move to the next round - a victory against Nurvania and a Caldian victory against Xiaodong would be the best case scenario, but hope exists even in the case of a draw.
Adevărul will continue to keep you posted on the latest events in the Coupe du Monde.
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