United fans only spectators in Athens

25 August 2010 19:00
Dundee United will face AEK Athens in their Europa League tie at the home of Olympiakos following 48 hours of confusion and drama. But Greek fans will be excluded from the venue after the initial replacement stadium was vandalised. The Tangerines flew out to Greece not knowing the venue for the play-off second leg, after vandals attacked the Nea Smyrni stadium - home of Panionios - overnight in protest to their rivals playing there. AEK had been originally forced to move from the Olympic Stadium because of a damaged pitch so faced having nowhere to play the match and exclusion from the tournament until a solution was found with their fiercest rivals. Because of crowd concerns, AEK fans are banned from attending so it will be just United's 500-strong support inside the Karaiskaki Stadium as the Tayside club seek to overturn a 1-0 deficit. After a lengthy wait while UEFA inspected the damage and AEK sought yet another solution, the governing body confirmed this evening that another venue had been found. A United statement read: "UEFA have confirmed that the Europa League game v AEK Athens will take place at the stadium of Olympiakos FC."

Source: PA