Presentation of the country's main government and sports institutions

• Ministry of Education and Sport
• Ministry of Citizen Protection
• Ministry of Justice

Main sports in the country (by number of members)

• Football  
• Basketball
• Volleyball
• Athletics
• Aquatics

National Olympic Committee

• Greece Olympic Committee

Main sports federations and leagues

• Hellenic Football Federation
• Hellenic Basketball Federation
• Hellenic Volleybal Federation
• SEGAS (Athletics)
• KOE (Aquatics)
• Superleague - football 1^st division
• Basketleague (ESAKE) -  basketball 1^st division
• Volleyleague - volleyball 1^st division

National football authorities

• Hellenic Football Federation
• Superleague - football 1^st division

Last major sports events organised since 2000 and key elements of their legacy

• Olympic Games 2004
• UEFA Super Cup 2023
• Final of UEFA Conference League 2024

Future major sports events organised and/or co-organised within the next 5 years

• Women Eurobasket 2025

The country's main sports competitions

• Olympic Games
• World Championships in Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Aquatics, Athletics
• European Championships in Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Handball, Aquatics, Athletics

There are only 7 officially recognized supporter clubs mainly from the major Greek clubs

From the sport law 2725/1999 there were specific provisions for the safe and secure environment in sport events especially in football matches. Especially after 2002 the article 41 of the sport law was significantly amended with provisions regarding:

• 41A The role and duties of the Standing Committee for Combating Violence (DEAV). The composition, role and duties of DEAV were significantly revised with the recent law 5085/2024
• 41B The framework for sport fan clubs which was significantly reformed with the recent laws 4908/2022 and 5085/2024
• 41C Ticket allocation for sport events which was substantially reformed with law 5085/2024 in order to provide direct identification of the ticket owners, exploiting the national citizen record (the tickets will be available only through the owner’s smartphone, related to article 41K)
• 41D Sport body obligations and cooperation with law enforcement with amendments via laws 4639/2019 and 5085/2024
• 41E Electronic surveillance of sport facilities. Specific details were imposed according to the recommendations of the Saint Denis convention were added with law 5085/2024 mainly regarding the CCTV system and the whole monitoring of the process, the production of reports etc.
• 41F Offences related to sport violence as amended by law 4809/2021 (criminal)
• 41G Disciplinary sanctions to sport bodies and physical persons. It is mainly for professional sport and especially for football.
• 41H Exclusion measures for those commit sport violence related offences
• 41I Sanctions for those that violate exclusion measures
• 41J Digital data base for the fan clubs is a new article
• 41K Identification platform for ticket owners (related to article 41C)

In addition to the above -mostly security measures-, there is article 56A in the sport law that deals with the classification and licensing of sport facilities.

Moreover, a joint ministerial decree from 26/8/2009 approves the current regulation for the safety and security in sport events which is a detailed 12 page document for a multidisciplinary approach with the necessary involved bodies, persons and steps for organizing a sport event (“Sport Events Security Regulation”).

It is important that in law 5085/2024 article 5, the National Coordination Committee is established according to the article 4 of the Saint Denis Convention, as it is explicitly stated in the law. This is the first explicit mention on the Saint Denis Convention after its ratification from the Hellenic Parliament in 2022.

The National Coordination Committee is composed of representatives from the Ministry of Sport, Ministry of Citizen Protection, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Digital Governance, Ministry of State, Police, Football Federation, 1^st Football League (Superleague), Sport Journalist Association and the President of DEAV.

The first duties of the National Coordination Committee is to draft a National Strategy  and to make proposals for fully align the Greek legislation with the provisions of the Saint Denis convention given that a new sport law is drafted that will replace law 2725/1999.

Measures taken / envisaged by States to meet the objectives of the Convention

Regarding the specific articles of the Saint Denis Convention:

Article 1 - Scope: As it is already discussed, initially the scope of the Saint Denis convention will be for the professional sports in Greece which means:

• Football 1^st and 2^nd division (Superleague and Superleague 2, respectively)
• Basketball Men 1^st division (Basket league)
• Volleyball Men 1^st division (Volley league)

This will be the recommendation from the National Coordination Committee.

Article 2 - Aim: It is already undertaken in practice and it will be inserted explicitly in the law

Article 3 - Definitions: They will be explicitly inserted in the law

Article 4 - Domestic co-ordination arrangements. The National Coordination Committee is established with article 5 of Law 5085/2024

Article 5 – Safety, security and service in sports stadiums. Most of these provisions are related to the article 41 of the Sport Law and the Sport Events Security Regulation as mentioned above.

Article 6 – Safety, security and service in public places. Some measures are already in place with articles 41 and the Sport Events Security regulation and the National Coordination Committee will take action to fill any gaps

Article 7 – Contingency and emergency plans. They are described in the Sport Events Security Regulation.

Article 8 – Engagement with supporters and local communities. There are relevant provisions in article 41B especially after the last amendment with Law 5085/2024 and the creation of a National Board of Fan Clubs.

Article 9 – Police strategies and operations. They are pretty well established as we have a specific body in the Police for this reason (Sub-Directorate for Combating Violence in Sport Events) that they participate in all the functions described in article 41 and in the the Sport Events Security Regulation.

Article 10 – Prevention and sanctioning of offending behaviour. They are mainly described in article 41F, 41G, 41H and 41I of the sport law which are recently updated.

Article 11 – International co-operation. The provisions are in place already from 2004 and our National Football Information Point (NFIP) is part of the Greek delegation in the Committee on Safety and Security at Sports Events of the Saint Denis Convention.

Article 12 – Provision of information. The translation of the new legislative framework is under preparation

Existence of specific safety, security and/or service public policies

According to article 41 of Law 2725/1999 and the joint ministerial decree from 26/8/2009 approves the current regulation for the safety and security in sport events.

• Policing of Sporting Events Strategic plan 2023-2024

As of January 2023, the Greek Police has implemented a new multidimensional strategy that focuses on an interdisciplinary approach that promotes training and hands-on exercises for police personnel.

For starters, the strategic plan includes a number of joint trainings and exercises with other stakeholders, such as private security and stadia security managers in line with the provisions of Article 5 – Safety, security and service in sports stadiums and Article 6 – Safety, security and service in public places, aiming at promoting co-operation and interoperability during sporting events. Additionally, during 2023 and till the end of 2024, the Greek Police will implement three different sets of training programs designed for:

a) Match commanders and other police officers involved in match operations center

b) Police Liaison Officers, who are involved in public order policing operations surrounding football fixtures

c) Local Police tasked with policing sporting events.

These trainings will include table top exercises, online and onsite trainings on legislative and operational issues while other more specialized trainings will utilize Virtual Reality applications and software; that said, VR glasses will be used to train police officers in a number of real-life scenarios and enhance their ability to deal with crowd management and public order during sporting events, among other things.

Existence of a national strategy on safety, security and service

A task that will be accomplished by the National Coordination Committee

Existence of regional/ local strategies on safety, security and service

A task that will be accomplished by the National Coordination Committee

Major risks and trends on sport-related violence and disorder

The major risks are in the games of the professional leagues among the ultras of the big Greek clubs (mainly Olympiacos, Panathinaikos, AEK from Athens area and PAOK, Aris from Thessaloniki area) and also between the ultras and the Police. The current trend is to participate in conflicts outside the sport facilities (squares, streets, parks) and several times not accidentally but arranged with online appointments.

Last major incidents which seem relevant and enlightening on the need to adopt an integrated approach to safety, security and service

Currently, violence inside stadia is fairly limited and serious incidents are pretty rare and when they occur they are mainly related to attempted pitch invasions or use of political or derogative banners by the fans. However, an increasing number of violent and/or serious incidents take place outside athletic venues and some of them are occuring on days and times that are not directly related to a sporting event.

Over the last 5 years, a number of serious incidents, some of them lethal, took place that pertain to sports-related violence. A brief summary of these incidents can be seen below:

• In January 2020, 28-year-old Bulgarian Tosko Bozadziski was killed in Thessaloniki. The Bodef Plovdiv fan, which is affiliated with Thessaloniki’s Aris club, one of the city’s 3 major clubs,  was in the city for vacation but also to watch in person Aris vs PAOK, a major derby that attracts local and national interest from football enthusiasts. In an assault by PAOK fans on seven Bulgarian fans at a random location in the city, Bozadziski was killed as a result of being run over by a car while trying to flee the fight on foot.
• In February 2022, 19-year-old Alkis Kambanos, an Aris fan, and two friends were confronted by rival PAOK fans in the Charilaou neighborhood of Thessaloniki on a day that no sporting event involving the two teams was taking place in the city. Kampanos was beaten and stabbed in the upper thigh and bled to death while two of his friends were injured. Two more of his party managed to flee the scene. Twelve PAOK fans were arrested by the Police and all of them were convicted in relation to the killing in July 2023.
• In January 2023, an improvised explosive device was detonated outside the offices of a Panathinakos Athens fan club in the suburb of Amarousion, in Athens. The explosion caused limited damage to the door and some of the windows of the offices of the fan club as well to two other apartments of the same building whose windows were shattered. No injuries were reported as a result of the explosion.
• In August 2023, Michalis Katsouris, a 29-year-old AEK Athens fan died in violent clashes in Nea Filadelfeia the evening before the soccer match between AEK Athens and Dinamo Zagreb for the UEFA Champions League Qualifiers. Stabbed in the arm by unknown perpetrator(s), Katsouris succumbed to his injuries ten minutes later. Police and judicial investigations are still ongoing.
• In December 2023, a group of Olympiakos fans left the indoor arena were a volleyball match between Olympiakos and Panathinaikos was taking place, to attack riot police stationed outside the arena with flares and gasoline bombs. Organized soccer fan groups are believed to have been involved. Police officer Giorgos Lyggeridis, 31, was shot in the thigh, suffering severe arterial damage. The police officer was taken to the hospital in a comatose state and underwent a long operation during which he suffered a seizure; he died 3 weeks later, on December 27^th. An 18-year-old man has been arrested and charged with firing the flare while the police and judicial investigation is still ongoing examining the involvement of additional fans in the deadly incident.

Please provide a graph of the evolution of total incidents over the last 10 years