ATHENS, May 21 (Reuters) - Greek police on Monday said they would fire paintball pellets containing different colours to identify any rioting fans during Wednesday's Champions League final between Liverpool and AC Milan.
Authorities have drawn up extensive security plans for the biggest soccer match of the season to avoid any clashes between English and Italian fans.
"The paintball guns will be one of the weapons the riot police will use in case of fan clashes," police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis told Reuters.
The have the double aim of stopping trouble because they are quite painful as well as marking violent fans," he said.
Any fan covered with paint from a police gun, and not arrested immediatly, could then be easily identified and detained by police later.
Stathis said the pellets would not be used in the case of crowd trouble inside the Olympic stadium and could only be used in large open spaces such as squares and major roads.
Greece expects about 50,000 Italian and English fans, many of them without tickets, for the final in Athens.
This will be the first time such weapons will be used by Greek security forces.
Authorities have drawn up extensive security plans for the biggest soccer match of the season to avoid any clashes between English and Italian fans.
"The paintball guns will be one of the weapons the riot police will use in case of fan clashes," police spokesman Panagiotis Stathis told Reuters.
The have the double aim of stopping trouble because they are quite painful as well as marking violent fans," he said.
Any fan covered with paint from a police gun, and not arrested immediatly, could then be easily identified and detained by police later.
Stathis said the pellets would not be used in the case of crowd trouble inside the Olympic stadium and could only be used in large open spaces such as squares and major roads.
Greece expects about 50,000 Italian and English fans, many of them without tickets, for the final in Athens.
This will be the first time such weapons will be used by Greek security forces.
