It was a momentous decision for local football fans when officials agreed to move the international match between Greece and Israel from Athens to the PanKriti Stadium in Iraklion.

A group of us, nine in all, immediately purchased reserved-seat tickets at 30 euros each and, on the night of the game, our spirits high with anticipation of a Greek win, we set off for the match.

However, our spirits were soon dampened.

We entered the brightly-lit stadium and made our way to our "reserved" seats, which were already occupied!

Even though we asked them to move, after showing them our tickets with row and seat numbers clearly marked, they refused to budge.

There was only one steward in our section, but he was extremely busy avoiding any confrontation, since many other people seemed to be faced with the same dilemma.

While some of us managed to find an odd seat here and there, the majority of our group was forced to stand for the entire match – at 30 euros a pop.

The following day we contacted an official of the PanKriti Stadium to complain about the situation, but he shrugged it off, saying it was a common complaint, and immediately started playing the "shift-the-blame-game," saying the Iraklion Township is responsible, since stewards are town employees.

Further inquiries to the municipality resulted in an extended version of another game . . . this one called the "hold-and-wait" telephone game.

We hope the town and football officials get together and find a solution to this problem . . . and fast.  We can't help but wonder if some of this continuing fan violence is inflamed by the fact that many spectators, with "reserved" seats, become outraged at having to stand for two hours!