Was deadly violence in Nea Philadelphia due to pre-arranged rumble? What new video reveals

While Greece remains in shock over the loss of 29-year-old Michalis Katsouris, who fell victim to blind hooligan violence on Monday evening, revelations about the events that took place outside the Nea Philadelphia stadium are dramatic.

In a video posted on various social media, from an account that uploads footage of organized fans’ excursions and hooligan attacks, viewers can see, frame-by-frame, what unfolded last Monday evening on the outside of the AEK stadium.

07.08.2023, AEK Athens🇬🇷 vs BBB (Dinamo Zagreb🇭🇷), video from front of AEK stadium https://t.co/Fjy3xrlEmQ pic.twitter.com/cFjQt96uJw

— Hooligans.cz Official (@hooliganscz1999) August 11, 2023

The footage shows the movement of the AEK fans who were outside the stadium at the time and who were preparing for the arrival of Croatian and Greek hooligans, with the scene resembling a pre-arranged “fatal rendezvous” in the heart of Nea Philadelphia’s residential area, a development that threatened the lives of innocent citizens and property.

Cameras record AEK fans waiting for their «opponents», holding objects in their hands (clubs or planks), while some of them are wearing helmets.

At the same time, over the course of the video, a few moments before the Croatian and Greek hooligans appear, firebombs are thrown.

Carefree citizens or a pre-arranged ‘rumble’

The scenes in the video clearly shows that the foreign and domestic hooligans didn’t find carefree and defenseless citizens outside the Hagia Sophia stadium, but people who knew about the specific “rumble” and were prepared.

The video then records the arrival of the Dynamo Zagreb and Panathinaikos hooligans, who are armed with flares, clubs and knives. They’re the ones who caused the life-ending injury to ill-fated Michalis Katsouris, who in a matter of minutes would lose his life.

The incidents of fan violence and the ‘fatal rendezvous’,» greatly worry UEFA, with the focus now on the two upcoming matches between AEK and Dinamo Zagreb, along with concern over the holding of the UEFA Europa Conference League final at AEK’s stadium on May 29