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The Karaiskakis Stadium disaster was an incident that occurred on 8 February 1981, in the Karaiskakis Stadium in Athens, after the conclusion of a football match between Olympiacos and AEK Athens. It is the biggest football tragedy in Greece's history, and among the worst in sports history.
A total number of 21 people, 20 supporters of Olympiacos and 1 supporter of AEK, lost their lives while rushing out of the stadium to celebrate the victory of Olympiacos against AEK Athens (6–0). The accident occurred in the historic Gate 7.The stadium has since been rebuilt as a modern football field.
There are still debates regarding the causes that led to the disaster. The main cause for 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, making it for most of them extremely difficult to stand up or even defend themselves somehow. 19 supporters lost their lives within the stadium, while another two died of their wounds in hospital. At least 55 more were injured, many of them with major injuries. Most of the dead and wounded were teenagers and young adults.
The accident occurred in the Gate 7 of the stadium, the gate where supporters of Olympiacos were concentrated, however one of the victims was reported to be a supporter of AEK Athens FC friend with 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 a phrase for them. At the tribune part of the stadium where Gate 7 is now, 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 in the stadium.
Karaiskakis Stadium disaster