The Vienna-based South East Europe Media Organization (SEEMO), an affiliate of the International Press Institute (IPI), today noted an increased number of attacks against sports journalists in Greece following two incidents in the last week.
On Oct. 4, two individuals physically attacked Antonis Kalkabouras, a reporter with Mega TV, after a game between the Panathinaikos and Panionios basketball clubs in the Olympic Athletic Center of Athens. Kalkabouras said he was hit in the head while walking towards his car in the parking lot and that one of the attackers told him not to return to the stadium. He received medical treatment but did not require hospitalisation.
Three days later, Chrysanthos Tsaltidis, a Thessaloniki-based reporter for Libero sport radio, was forced to interrupt a live broadcast of a match between the Aris and Platanias football clubs when he was attacked by fans. He was not injured and was able to continue broadcasting.
SEEMO Secretary General Oliver Vujovic said: “I condemn all attacks against journalists and hope that the Greek police will find the perpetrators and bring them to justice.”