Greece threatens hooligans with jail

ATHENS, June 13 (Reuters) Greece today vowed to jail hooligans in a crackdown on sports violence after a series of widely-publicised incidents.

''Violence at sports stadia has become a real plague,'' Justice Minister Anastasios Papaligouras said after meeting Deputy Sports Minister George Orfanos. ''This is a situation that the state will no longer tolerate.'' He said a draft bill will ensure adult hooligans face prison, rather than suspended sentences or fines, when convicted.

The proposed legal ammendment on hooliganism is expected to be debated in parliament on Thursday.

Hooliganism and damage to property has become common at major domestic football and basketball matches.

Last week, Olympiakos players and coaching staff were injured by air gun pellets and flares during a basketball title playoff with rivals and defending champions Panathinaikos, who eventually won the series.

The basketball match was interrupted and three Olympiakos players and coaching staff needed hospital treatment.

In May, AEK Athens soccer supporters rioted aboard a passenger ferry that was bringing them back from the island of Crete after the Greek Cup final, won by Olympiakos. The hooligans caused an estimated 150,000 euros of damage.

In February, crowd trouble marred Olympiakos Piraeus' win over PAOK Salonika in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki. Hooligans set fire to seats and threw missiles at firemen attempting to put out the blaze.

REUTERS PDS ND2134