Greek fans make the eagle gesture at EuroLeague game in Belgrade, Serbian media go wild

Belgrade Partizan and Greece’s Panathinaikos faced off on Thursday evening in Serbia’s capital in the 14th-round EuroLeague basketball game. 

There were clashes between fans, albeit from a distance, while the Serbian media paid a great deal of attention to an action by fans of the Greek club. 

Panathinaikos fans, grouped in the “Gate 13” supporters’ group, provoked the Belgrade club’s fans by forming the figure of the double-headed eagle.

“Greeks, shame on you! Panathinaikos fans provoke with the symbol of ‘Greater Albania’ in the heart of Belgrade,” reads the headline of the “novosti.rs” website article.

According to this outlet, Panathinaikos fans have brotherly ties with Dinamo Zagreb’s supporters, the “Bad Blue Boys”.

“In any case, this is a shameful act for Greece, a country that has brotherly and friendly ties with Serbia,” “Novosti” further writes.

Another Belgrade website, “sportal.rs”, wrote: “Albanian eagle in the heart of Belgrade, Greeks provoke during game against Partizan”.

The Greek club’s fans were surrounded by police forces, but had verbal clashes with Partizan fans, whose team ultimately won the game.

“One of the fans even displayed the Albanian eagle. It is assumed that this was a reaction to the PAOK flag that appeared in the arena,” “sportal.rs” writes.