A senior Greek sports journalist who is a key witness in investigations relating to the Athens Olympics was beaten and stabbed by men on a motorcycle.
Police today said Mr Filippos Sirigos, sports editor at major daily newspaper Eleftherotypia, was stabbed multiple times and beaten with crowbars in central Athens yesterday afternoon by at least two assailants as he left a weekly radio show he hosts.
"This was an attempt to kill him," Eleftherotypiaeditor Mr Serafim Fintanidis told reporters. "This was not an attack to scare him, it was an assassination attempt."
He was in hospital in stable condition with stomach and head wounds on Tuesday, authorities said.
Prosecutors have called Mr Sirigos as a witness in several high-profile sports investigations, including the case of Greece's top two sprinters who withdrew from August's Athens Olympics following a missed doping test.
He was sued for libel by Athens games chief Mrs Gianna Angelopoulos and her husband, who have demanded €10 million in compensation following a series of stories alleging her involvement in Olympics-sponsoring programmes through a company.
Mr Sirigos has also written stories about corruption in Greece's soccer clubs and doping allegations in weightlifting and athletics.
Politicians of all sides condemned the stabbing, believed to be the first such attack for decades, and called it a serious threat to press freedom.