Fans throwing fire and seats get Greece-Croatia match halted

In a series of events that only seems to have caught riot police by surprise, a group of Greek fans sneaked through the stands and attacked their Croatian counterparts at the start of Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier. This prompted referee Howard Webb to take action. And since he is a police sergeant, he didn't just run away.

From the AP:

The Euro 2012 qualifier between Greece and Croatia was temporarily suspended less than three minutes after kickoff on Friday when over 100 masked individuals entered a stand and attacked the Croatia supporters.

The group, some wearing motorcycle helmets, threw flares and at least one petrol bomb in their direction. Some Croatia fans responded by ripping off seats and throwing them at their attackers.

The game resumed after a six-minute interruption, but the Croat supporters, said to number about 700, continued ripping seats and throwing them at riot police, who responded with pepper spray.

Given all the violence Greek fans have caused during domestic matches in recent months, it's amazing they're not playing every match behind closed doors. Then again, after this incident, that might be coming.

Photos: Reuters