THESSALONIKI – A Thessaloniki prosecutor directed an investigation into a banner hung by fans of the PAOK soccer team at a game showing solidarity with suspects charged with the murder of a student who was a fan of their rival Aris.

Alkis Kambanos died, and two friends were injured, in an attack by what was said to be a gang of PAOK fans on a sidewalk in Greece’s second-largest city when he was hit in the head with a crowbar and stabbed in the leg with a curved karambit knife on Feb. 1, bleeding out.

A dozen people were detained over the killing and police in Thessaloniki and Athens conducted scores of raids at soccer fan clubs, confiscating weapons as the New Democracy government shut them down.

Suspended from a railing at PAOK’s home turf in the district of Toumba during a Europa Conference League match against Denmark’s Midtjylland, the banner read “Brothers Hang in There,” said Kathimerini.

That was seen as a reference to the PAOK supporters who are being held over the killing and the probe will try to determine who hung the banner and whether there are grounds for them to be prosecuted for inciting violence, the report said.