On 5 November 1967, Austria and Greece played a football, some say
soccer, match. It was a European Championship qualifier. The match was
abandoned before the end due to some sort of crowd disturbance with
the score at 1-1 and, although the match was not completed, the score
stood. Why?! I have the names of the scorers and the team line-ups.
What I need is further information about the disturbance and the
abandonment, and FIFA's decision to let the result stand, perhaps in
the form of a match report or news report. There's a tip if you can
come up with any other international football matches that have been
abandoned but the scores have stood. Thanks in advance.

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Request for Question Clarification by answerfinder-ga on 29 Nov 2005 08:55 PST

Dear paultoon-ga,

I can tell you from a newspaper account (very brief) as to why the
match was abandoned. You will not be able to view the newspaper online
but I can direct you to libraries where you may view the article.

The reason FIFA did not have a replay is not clear. It would depend on
the rules of the competition at the time. The current rule book for
FIFA indicates that an abandoned match should be replayed subject to
the competition rules, but whether this has altered since 1967, I am
unable to say. Personally, if the result does not stand when
abandoned, what is there stop the crowd invading the pitch and causing
abandonment of the game every time it looks as if they may be losing?

Let me know whether the first paragraph answers your question.

answerfinder-ga

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Clarification of Question by paultoon-ga on 30 Nov 2005 03:03 PST

Hi answerfinder-ga
Can you post the brief newspaper account here (type it if it is
brief?), and I will accept that as the answer. No need to type the
team line-ups etc as I have those already.
Thanks
paultoon-ga

Dear paultoon-ga,

Thank for answering the clarification and a good point by myoarin. 

This is from the Times of Monday, 06 November 1967.

It is a short paragraph from a very long article which discussed the
problems arising when Celtic played Racing Club in Argentina.

Headline: FIFA must guide world club cup - Rous calls for inquiry. 

?And to add to it all there was further trouble yesterday in a
European Championship Cup tie between Austria and Greece in Vienna,
another brawl which ended in a 1-1 draw. A Greek player was sent off;
angry spectators swarmed on to the pitch and fought with the players;
some 200 policemen had to clear the field; and the Hungarian referee,
by eyewitness account, was struck and injured by a spectator wielding
a bottle.?

On Tuesday, Nov 14, 1967 the Times also reported that UEFA had given a
?final warning? to Austria for insufficient policing at the above
match. No further games would be played in Austria if it happened
again.

I could not find any reports on the cup results and position table.
Nor any confirmation that the match was abandoned.

The Times can viewed at any good library in the UK.

I hope this answers your question. If it does not, or the answer is
unclear, then please ask for clarification of this research before
rating the answer. I shall respond to the clarification request as
soon as I receive it.
Thank you
answerfinder

Great stuff! Thanks for that answerfinder, exactly what I was looking
for. I already had details of the cup qualification
(http://www.rsssf.com/tables/68e.html) so you've rpovided everything I
needed. Take a tip!

Just a suggestion:  could it have been that the match was immaterial
for the qualification?  I don't know how that was done back then, but
now there are matches at the end of the qualification round that won't
change the either team's chance of going the European Championship. 
For example, if one team has already qualified in early matches and
the other has no chance of qualifying;  or they are both already out
of the competition.

myoarin-ga, 
Neither side had a chance of qualifying, so you are probably right,
that probably had a bearing on letting the result stand.

Dear paultoon-ga,
Thank you for the tip. Pleased I could help (even though Rugby's my game!).
answerfinder-ga