Footballers Stage Migrants Tribute Before Game

A Greek football match was delayed when players staged a sit-down protest as a tribute to migrants who have died trying to reach Greece's Aegean islands.

The gesture happened before kick-off in the second-tier Football League match between AEL Larissa and Acharnaikos in the Thessalian city of Larissa.

As the match kicked off all 22 outfield players - as well as the coaches, officials and substitutes - sat down for two minutes in a show of respect for the hundreds of refugees who have lost their lives trying to escape conflict or persecution in countries like Iraq and Syria.

An announcement over the stadium's public address system stated: "The administration of AEL, the coaches and the players will observe two minutes of silence just after the start of the match in memory of the hundreds of children who continue to lose their lives every day in the Aegean due to the brutal indifference of the EU and Turkey.

"The players of AEL will protest by sitting down for two minutes in an effort to drive the authorities to mobilise all those who seem to have been desensitised to the heinous crimes that are being perpetrated in the Aegean."

Greece became the main gateway for more than a million refugees who started arriving in Europe last year, many using small vessels to undertake the hazardous sea crossings.

Twenty-four people trying to cross to Europe from Turkey drowned when their boat sank close to a Greek island on Thursday.

The footballers' gesture came 24 hours after it was announced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that the flame for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will pass through a refugee camp in Athens and one refugee will be among the torchbearers.

The torch will be lit at the ancient site of Olympia on 21 April before leaving for Brazil 12 days later.

The IOC has already said top athletes who are refugees with no home country to represent will be able to compete at the Games under the Olympic flag.