ANKARA/ATHENS: Violence scarred both Turkish and Greek football at the weekend.

The Turkish league was suspended after Fenerbahce’s team bus came under armed attack after an away match against Rizespor on Saturday.

Then five people were taken to hospital in Greece after an attack on a television crew ahead of a second division match.

In Turkey the Fenerbahce bus driver was taken to hospital after being wounded in the attack, which took place as the team were heading to Trabzon before flying back to Istanbul after a 5-1 win. No players were injured.

Fenerbahce, in a statement, described the attack as an “assassinaton attempt”, linking it to hostility in the wake of match-fixing allegations that have swirled around the club for months.

It added: “This is a point where football comes to an end since blood has been spilled. It is Fenerbahce’s opinion that the league must be postponed until this incident is cleared up and the feelings of Fenerbahce supporters’ are satisfied.”

In Greece staff of cable channel OTE TV suffered minor injuries at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Salonika.

Deputy sports minister Stavros Kontonis said: “This is another example of a severe episode of blind football fan violence, with the victims simply ordinary employees and technicians who were attacked while preparing the media coverage of the Football League match between Iraklis and AEL Larissa.

“The government condemns these morbid phenomena and assures supporters that the legislative work it is going through is aiming to eliminate the root causes of the problems afflicting Greek football.

“We hope that all will realise the gravity of the situation and support our legislative work, even if some may have reservations about aspects of the bill.”

Kontonis has already suspended all matches in Greece for a one-week spell once this season and imposed a two-week supporter ban in recent weeks as the state cracks down on violence.

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