At the very beginning of play between Greek second tier clubs AEL Larissa and Acharnaikos, all 22 players plus the coaches and substitutes staged a two minute protest to draw attention to the hundreds of refugees who have died trying to flee their war-torn homes. Just after kickoff, all players and coaches sat down on the turf as the ball rolled to a stop.
As a geographical crossroads, Turkey has some 2.5 million refugees within its borders and agreed to stem the flow out, in exchange for financial assistance from the European Union. However, many continue to pay smugglers to take them on the dangerous journey through the Aegean Sea and in to Europe on rickety, overloaded boats. Not 24 hours after the protest, a group of at least 37 migrants, including 10 children drowned in the Aegean Sea when their boat capsized.An announcement over the club's PA 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.