About 60 AEK fans appeared at the sanctification ceremony of the lake in Nea Philadelphia that took place on Tuesday, where they hurled abuse and threats against local mayor Aris Vasilopoulos.

The football hooligans, who attempted to interrupt the ceremony, made serious threats against the mayor and reportedly assaulted a local reporter and the head of police forces. In recent times AEK fans have also assaulted councilors at a municipal meeting.

As the threats appeared to escalate, the mayor eventually departed. The “demonstration”, which lasted about twenty minutes, was over the controversial construction of a new football stadium for AEK, on the grounds of its former stadium.

The construction of the new stadium however will necessitate cutting down a number of trees from the adjacent forest, which has caused local residents to formally object to the stadium.