Burnley fan stabbed before Europa League clash with Olympiakos in Greece

ONE Burnley supporter was stabbed ahead of the Europa League play-off tie against Olympiakos in Athens on Thursday.

The fan required stitches to a leg wound but was not seriously injured.

Three more supporters were robbed in Athens before the 3-1 defeat while 23 travelling fans were arrested for being drunk and disorderly.

Burnley announced the incidents in a statement on their website, saying that five fans were injured in total.

The club took around 900 supporters to the Greek capital for their Europa League play-off tie.

Manager Sean Dyche was unhappy with the conduct of Olympiakos players and officials in the way they influenced refereeing decisions.

The home side were furious with referee Slavko Vincic in the first half and Dyche said the referee was confronted at half-time.

The Burnley boss said: “After the incident where they tried for a penalty, which wasn’t a penalty, I don’t know how many people ran on the pitch and surrounded the referee and the linesman and the officials.

"The scenes I saw at half-time from all and sundry around the referee on their side. They were waiting for the referee.

"You all saw the feel of the game was different in the second half. You’re left scratching your head.

“There were plenty of people involved in the tunnel, waiting for the referee to come in and let him know in no uncertain times what they felt.

“We are given very strict guidelines from UEFA and the Premier League about respect towards the referees and we did what we always do in that we walked straight down the tunnel into our dressing room.

“It was interesting because there were that many people involved. It wasn’t just the people on the bench, it was all sorts of people from the offices. The tea lady was there at one point! That’s a joke."