ATHENS, Greece, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- The Greek government suspended professional soccer in the country Wednesday, a move prompted by stadium violence.
The indefinite suspension affects the country's three top divisions.
Fans threw flares, rocks and bottles at the field Sunday during a match between Athens rivals Panathinaikos and Olympiakos, two teams leading Greece's top-tier Super League, after players were attacked on the field by fans. A match at Larissa, between Larissa and Volou, also included a clash between fans and police.
On Tuesday a boardroom meeting of Super League executives ended after the president of Olymiakos allegedly threw a glass of water at his Panathinaikos counterpart, and a security guard allegedly punched another Panathinaikos executive.
The government's deputy minister for sport, Stavros Kontonis, announced the suspension of all matches, mentioning the incidents and adding he had received the approval of new Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. Play will be suspended, Kontonis said, until a solution to the violence is found.
Super League President Gioros Borovilos said, "We have a new government who are looking to bring this subject up for discussion and implement state laws related to it. The government wants games to start again as soon as possible, but for that they want to see immediate reactions from all of us."
Matches were suspended previously, in September, when a fan was killed in a clash between supporters of the Ethnikos Piraeus and Irodotos teams, and in January after an assault on a an assistant director of a referee's committee.
