Local man, 35, arrested after DNA found on knife near hooligan-related stabbing death in Athens last Aug.

The latest twist in the stabbing death of a local man outside the a football stadium in northwest Athens last August is the discovery of DNA on a knife, found near the victim, belonging to a 35-year-old Greek man viewed as a suspect in the homicide.

Michalis Katsouris, 29, was fatality stabbed outside the Opap Arena stadium in the Nea Philadelphia district in early August after a group of up to 100 Croatian hooligans, supporters of the Dinamo Zagreb football team, stormed the grounds outside the venue – the home field of AEK Athens. Hooligans of another Athens team, a rival to AEK, also reportedly participated in the violence.

The 35-year-old suspect was recently arrested as part of the ongoing investigation into the case. A warrant for his arrest on a separate 12-month conviction for hooligan violence was also served.

According to Greece’s state broadcaster, ERT, the arrested suspect has claimed that his DNA was the result of a previous clash before the victim’s fatal stabbing.

In a related development, five top Greek Police (EL.AS) officers were given disciplinary reprimands for allowing a convoy of vehicles carrying the Croatian hooligans to reach Athens from the Albanian border after travelling through half the country.