Greek deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis Sunday insisted that fans responsible for the violence and cancellation of the Athens derby between Panathinaikos-Olympiakos will be punished.
"Today 14 persons were referred to the magistrate after being arrested for committing serious felonies and this shows to everyone that the law is being applied," Kontonis said in a statement one day after the Super League match was called off before kick-off because of violence.
Kontonis added: "The elimination of the phenomena of violence is the subject of coordinated actions of the state. Those who thought they would continue undisturbed with their destructive actions realize now that tolerance of the society has long since been exhausted."
The leftist government earlier this year had passed legislation aimed at tackling violence in domestic sports.
Referee Andreas Pappas made the decision to call off the match Saturday after taking into account the violence both inside and outside the Apostolos Nikolaidis Stadium.
Immediately after the decision was announced to the spectators, dozens of fans rushed onto the pitch and fought with riot police.
Police said 14 arrests were made and that three police officers were injured, one seriously.
Tear gas was used by police to bring order and the stadium suffered serious damage at the hands of the unruly crowd.
Two hours before the scheduled 1730 GMT kick-off on Saturday, unruly Panathinaikos fans fought with police outside the stadium.
Fans threw rocks and other debris at police who in turn responded with tear gas to put a halt to the violence after 10 minutes.
Police also clashed briefly with fans inside the stadium near the players? entrance tunnel.
The appearance of the visiting Olympiakos players on the pitch then prompted four flares to be thrown towards them by fans.
Olympiakos vice-president Savvas Theodoridis told the Greek cable television network Nova, which was broadcasting the match live, that ?the new law is clear, the match should not be played. We do not play in a jungle?.
Theodoridis said flares thrown by the fans during the warm-up struck Olympiakos forward Alfred Finnbogason, ?burning? the Iceland international?s hand, and Serbian midfielder Luka Milivojevic.
Panathinaikos are likely to be punished heavily with Olympiakos in line to be awarded a 3-0 win, as well as the home side facing a possible points deduction, banning from playing at home for some matches and a heavy fine.
In an emergency board of directors meeting on Sunday, Panathinaikos decided to hold a peaceful demonstration of their supporters on Wednesday and criticised the fans that threw the flares onto the pitch.
The visitors top the table with 30 points after winning their first 10 matches and entered Saturday?s contest eight points clear of second-place Panathinaikos.
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