Juankar suffers partial hearing loss from Greek 'Clasico' firecracker

Juankar suffers partial hearing loss and labyrinthine concussion as a result of the firecracker that exploded next to him during this weekend's Greek 'Clasico'. The former Malaga and Real Betis player, among others, was warming up on the touchline to take the field for Panathinaikos when the firework exploded and he was stretchered off the pitch by the team's medical staff.

The Greek press reported the diagnosis of the full-back, who has already experienced similar situations in La Liga since leaving La Rosaleda. One of his teammates, Aitor Cantalapiedra, spoke to 'Carrusel Deportivo' to explain what happened and said that the reason why the match was suspended was because his dressing room opted for it. It is understood that if it is not the players who put a stop to these actions, no one will.

"He (Juankar) was warming up, they scored the equaliser and they started throwing firecrackers and flares. He was unlucky that one fell very close to him. Two years ago, they threw a stone at me; last year, they threw a firecracker at our goalkeeper.... This year, we said 'if something happens, we have to stop the game'. If we don't stop it, the game goes on as if nothing happened. He couldn't even get up," he said.

"The whole Olympiacos pitch has a net to stop them throwing things. In the stands, there is no net and it just happened there. We don't know if we can be safe on a football pitch anymore. You like to play these kinds of games because the atmosphere is different, but you have to stop them if something like this happens. The normal thing is to keep playing, but this has to change. We have a team-mate who is going to spend the night in hospital," he said.

 

October 22, 2023