Brighton release statement after Greek police use tear gas on furious AEK fans

30 November 2023 , 22:42

1137     0

Brighton continue their European adventure with a win in Greece (Image: Stefanos Kyriazis/IPA Sport/ipa-agency.net/REX/Shutterstock)

Greek police used tear gas on furious AEK fans after Brighton's historic victory in Athens.

The 1,600 travelling Albion noisily celebrated reaching the Europa League knockout stages and Greek fans threw missiles and refused to leave.

Brighton police liaison officer Darren Balham tweeted: "The tear gas that was deployed at the end of the game was at AEK supporters who wouldn’t clear the bowl or immediate area. A number of cannisters were fired resulting in the gas coming back into the stadium due to the still night.

"I know a number of you were affected (as were we) we gave reassurance to those who needed it straight after and informed fans of what had happened. To be clear this was not aimed at Brighton fans at all and police have praised your excellent behaviour."

The club released a statement after the game reading: "Once again the travelling Albion fans have been a credit to the club and supported the team on another historic night for the club.

Arsenal lose eight players and sign three as January transfer window closes

"We are aware of a small number of minor incidents at full-time in the home section of the ground. We understand this resulted in police clearing the home area with the use of teargas. None was directed at the away section.

"However we are also aware that this inadvertently affected a number of Albion supporters in the away section. We will investigate further and seek clarity from AEK Athens - who as a club were excellent hosts - and from UEFA, but at this point will not make any further comment."

Brighton continued their European adventure on Thursday after Joao Pedro's 55th-minute penalty earned a 1-0 win over AEK Athens, despite Albion being second-best for much of the night.

Pedro stepped up after VAR judged he was fouled by Damian Szymanski, and Athens were reduced to 10 men in the 65th minute when Mijat Gacinovic earned a second yellow card.

However, Roberto De Zerbi's men remain a point behind Group B leaders Marseille, who beat 10-man Ajax 4-3 thanks to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang completing his hat-trick in stoppage time.

Neil McLeman