The Karaiskakis Stadium disaster was an incident that occurred on 8 February 1981 at the

Karaiskakis Stadium The Georgios Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Γεώργιος Καραϊσκάκης), commonly referred to as the Karaiskakis Stadium ( el, Στάδιο Καραϊσκάκη, ), is a football stadium in Piraeus, Attica, Greece, and the ...

in Neo

Faliro Phalerum or Phaleron ( ''()'', ; ''()'', ) was a port of Ancient Athens, 5 km southwest of the Acropolis of Athens, on a bay of the Saronic Gulf. The bay is also referred to as "Bay of Phalerum" ( el, Όρμος Φαλήρου '').'' The ...

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, after the conclusion of a football match between

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós ( el, Ολυμπιακός Σύνδεσμος Φιλάθλων Πειραιώς, Olympic Club of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number ...

and

AEK Athens A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greece, Greek multi-sport club based in Nea ...

. It is the worst football

tragedy Tragedy (from the grc-gre, τραγῳδία, ''tragōidia'', ''tragōidia'') is a genre of drama based on human suffering and, mainly, the terrible or sorrowful events that befall a main character. Traditionally, the intention of tragedy ...

in Greece's history,. A total of 21 people, 20 supporters of

and one supporter of

AEK A.E.K ( el, AEK , formally Αθλητική Ένωσις Κωνσταντινουπόλεως; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople''), known as A.E.K, is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelf ...

, died while rushing out of the stadium to celebrate the 6–0 victory of

against

. The accident occurred in the historic Gate 7 (Θύρα 7). The stadium has since been rebuilt as a modern football field (not a stadium). There are still debates regarding the causes that led to the disaster. The main cause of the accident, according to the official police report, seems to have been a partially closed door. While exiting, some fans lost their balance and fell on the last steps: dozens fell onto each other and were stepped over by a horde of unsuspecting fans who kept coming in. 19 supporters died at the stadium, while another two died of their injuries in hospital, with 55 being injured, many of them seriously. Most of the dead and wounded were teenagers and young adults. The accident occurred at Gate 7 of the stadium, a gate where supporters of

were concentrated, however, one of the victims was a supporter of

, a friend of an Olympiacos supporter. In memory of this event, every year on February 8, there is a memorial service at the stadium in honor of the supporters that died in that incident. The service is attended by thousands of fans every year, who are rhythmically shouting the phrase "Αδέρφια, ζείτε, εσείς μας οδηγείτε." (''Adhérfia, zíte, esís mas odhiyíte'', "Brothers, you live, you are the ones who guide us."). At the tribune part of the stadium at Gate 7, some seats are colored black instead of red, shaping the number "7", whereas there is also a monument on the eastern side of the stadium, bearing the names of all 21 supporters killed on that day. Even though this incident affected almost solely the fanbase of Olympiacos, other teams occasionally pay their respects to the people killed as well, as they consider the incident to be a tragedy not only for one team but for the whole country. In the past, even foreign teams, such as

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has p ...

and

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Bel ...

have honored the incident's victims. "Gate 7" (Θύρα 7), οne of the biggest and most supportive fan clubs of

, was named after the incident. Although "Gate 7" members are generally considered to be

ultras Ultras are a type of association football fans who are renowned for their fanatical support. The term originated in Italy, but is used worldwide to describe predominantly organised fans of association football teams. The behavioural tende ...

, the people sitting in that gate before and during the incident were normal supporters, without season tickets (as in the old stadium only gate 1—which was a VIP gate—supported some season tickets).

References

External links

The chronicle of the incident
at the Olympiakos website
Gate 7 fans Website
* http://www.gate7.gr/821981/ Photo Tribute * http://www.gate7.gr/777/1.pdf Newspapers {{DEFAULTSORT:Karaiskakis Stadium disaster Human stampedes in 1981 Stadium disasters Man-made disasters in Greece Olympiacos F.C. 1981 disasters in Greece 1981 in Greek sport 1980s in Athens February 1981 sports events in Europe