Football in Egypt suspended after deaths
Print Edition
EGYPT has suspended all major football matches after 19 people were killed in the latest outbreak of violence between fans and police, authorities said yesterday.
Egyptian football fans have been repeatedly involved in the country’s explosive political mix and Sunday’s unrest raised fears of further clashes in the days ahead.
The violence — reminiscent of clashes in which more than 70 people were killed after a match in Port Said in 2012 — erupted as thousands of fans tried to force their way into a Cairo stadium to watch a game, triggering panic as police fired tear gas and birdshot at the crowds.
Health officials and police said the victims were crushed in a stampede, with some suffering broken necks.
Interior ministry spokesman Hani Abdel Latif told reporters that 22 policemen had been injured in the clashes and 18 people were arrested.
Khaled al-Khatib, head of Egypt’s emergency services, said: “The deaths were caused due to a stampede. There are no signs of gunshot or birdshot.
“The victims had lots of bruises, while some had broken necks. People were trampling each other.”
The match continued despite the unrest, provoking further outrage among fans.
The clashes had prompted the government to postpone the Egyptian Premier League indefinitely, the prime minister’s office said in a statement yesterday.
Sunday’s match between Zamalek and Enppi was open to the public, unlike most other games between Egyptian clubs since the 2012 Port Said riots.
The interior ministry had restricted the number of spectators allowed into the stadium to watch Sunday’s game to 10,000.
Police fire tear gas
Thousands of fans without tickets scaled the stadium walls before police dispersed them, the interior ministry said.
Zamalek supporters aimed fireworks at police, who fired tear gas and birdshot back.
“There was a police car on fire and they were shooting birdshot and tear gas,” a witness said.
Another witness said: “Police fired tear gas at a large number of fans in a very narrow place. People were trampling over one another trying to escape.”
The government accused the football fans of starting the clashes.
“Because of these sad events it has been decided to postpone the league to a time that will be decided later,” it said in a statement.
Outside a Cairo morgue where the bodies were taken, dozens of relatives wept and wailed while others pored over a list of the dead trying to identify loved ones.
“The youths are supposed to be building this country and the police are killing them,” one man shouted.
Others scuffled with morgue security who were blocking their access.
The state prosecutor ordered an investigation into the clashes, a statement from his office said. It said that the fans had blocked a road leading to the stadium and torched three police vehicles.
Sunday’s deaths could inflame football fans, who have repeatedly clashed with police in recent years and can bring thousands to the streets.
After the deadly football riots in Port Said, a court handed out death sentences to 21 people before an appeals court ordered a retrial that has yet to come to a conclusion.
Egypt’s football fans played a key role in the nation’s 2011 revolution that led to the ousting of strongman Hosni Mubarak and they have continued to be a volatile force in the troubled country.
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