Egypt football violence kills 75, injures hundreds

At least 75 have died and hundreds injured Cairo – Akram Ali The Egyptian ministry of health in Port Said has reported at least 75 have died and hundreds injured as a result of violence following a football match on Wednesday. Earlier in the evening, the head of the Port Said General Hospital Hassan Al-Essnawy had given a lesser estimate of 53 injured after clashes erupted at the end of a football match between the fans of fottbal clubs Al-Ahly and Al-Masry in the city. After only a few hours, the hospital in Port Said reported receiving more than 1000 injuries resulting from the violence.
The main cause of death was a smashed skull, and most of the dead are “young men”, according to Essnawy. Some players were also injured during the attack.
Violence flared between fans of both teams after Port Said’s local team Al-Masry won the match 3-1, and stormed the pitch to chase off Al-Ahly players. Angry fans congregated outside Al-Ahly's ground to protest against the Interior Ministry and the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) for what they felt was a major lapse of security at the stadium.
Political forces issued a statement early morning on Thursday, commenting on the bloody events, stressing the need to prosecute all those in charge. They called on the parliament to withdraw confidence from the government, and to hold SCAF accountable, in addition to expediting the presidential elections.
SCAF later announced sending two military planes to transfer Al-Ahly players, fans, and the wounded from Port Said back to Cairo, whereas newly elected parliamentary Speaker Saad Katatni called for an emergency session on Thursday morning to investigate the incident and discuss its repercussions.
Eyewitnesses told ‘Arabstoday’ that Al-Ahly fans held banners that provoked Al-Masry fans, which led the latter to attack the former after the match. Meanwhile, TV showed security forces from the Interior and the army standing idly by, without attempting to actively intervene or stop the clashes.
Al-Ahly players said that police and armed forces were nowhere to be seen during or after the clashes. Rumours were circulating that the Al-Masry fans, who initiated the attack after the match, were allegedly preventing the ambulances from entering the stadium for an hour and half.
A makeshift medical unit was established in the Al-Ahly locker room, where the fans and players took shelter from the attack. The head of the Ahly club said the locker room turned into a morgue where people were dying as a result of a lack of medical assistance.
Ahly TV showed split screen footage of the clashes beginning and riot police, armed with shields, standing in a tunnel without intervening. Many accused security of “allowing” the violence and even “planning” it ahead.
Activists on social networks, along with several Al-Ahly fans, accused the Interior and the army of seeking revenge from the Ultras, hardcore Al-Ahly fans, who had played a major role in the popular protests throughout the revolution, by planning football violence after the match. They backed-up their claim by stating that the governor of Port Said and the city’s Head of Security did not attend a match in the city’s stadium for the first time, which may prove that they had an idea about the day's events.
Activists and Al-Ahly fans wondered: “Why did fans of a winning team want to attack the other fans?” Most believe that it is “unreasonable” and thus are more inclined to believe that it was plotted by SCAF and security, who assumed that Al-Ahly would win the match and the attack on the fans of the winning team would be inevitable.
Others who refuse to believe in conspiracy theories stated that the chaos and absence of security, even if it not premeditated, was enough to condemn the Interior Ministry and SCAF, as security forces stood idly while fans beat each other to death, as seen on TV.
Security officials said the ministry has issued directives to its personnel not to "engage" with civilians after recent clashes between police and protesters in November left more than 40 people dead.
MP Osama Yasin, head of the Youth and Sports Committee, stated that he would not just discuss the match, but the state of chaos in Egypt which “seeks destroying the revolution”.
The President of the Egyptian Football Association Samir Zaher meanwhile announced the domestic league has been postponed “indefinitely”, and may even be cancelled following the violence in Port Said, with the death toll still on the rise.
A football game in Cairo Stadium between the Al-Ismailiya and Zamalek teams was also called off in mourning for the violence in Port Said.
Meanwhile, the military council issued a communiqué on Facebook, announcing “a national three-day mourning period” across Egypt, following the events at the Port Said stadium, and offering condolences to the families of the victims.
The statement included that a fact-finding committee was to be formed to investigate the incident, adding that all involved elements would be put to trial.
The Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), the Muslim Brotherhood's Islamist political wing, said the police forces were involved in the incidents, as they could have prevented the violence or intervened, however, they stood idly watching people die.
“The security vacuum continues, the police officers are punishing us for revolting,” Brotherhood spokesman Mahmoud Ghozlan said in a television interview in the late hours of Wednesday.
“This is another episode of the kind of violence which happened in Maspero, Mohamed Mahmoud and in front of the cabinet during the past few months. In all those incidents, the authorities failed to hold anyone accountable,” he added.
The FJP published a statement calling on SCAF to take all necessary measures to prosecute those involved, saying that what happened was "more than just football riots, but rather was a deliberate scheme aiming to cause sedition among Egyptians".
“The FJP believes that what happened in Port Said cannot be at all separated from the overall scene emerging since a few days ago, with organised robberies of a number of banks, post offices and security vehicles, as well as a proliferation of cases of robbery and banditry,” said the statement.
“These acts have indeed emerged clearly after the completion of parliamentary elections, which was a major shift for the Egyptian revolution. This points to treacherous hands, which are no longer hidden, intent on forcing Egypt into chaos and destruction,” the statement added.
“These are, evidently, the handiwork of domestic parties and dubious forces that still have strong ties with the former regime, which manages the sabotage scheme from the cells of Tora prison,” it noted.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim decided to transfer the Port Said Security Chief Adel Samak to the ministry’s offices, after initial investigations established his failure in containing the incidents.
Thousands of hardcore Al-Ahly and Zamalek fans and victims' families rallied at the train station for two hours, waiting for the arrival of the fans from Port Said. The masses at the train station chanted against Tantawi and the SCAF, calling for retribution.
The train carrying Al-Ahly fans arrived early on Thursday and was received by grieving and angry families and fans amid loud chants against the SCAF and MOI, while hundreds headed to Tahrir Square planning to stage a sit-in.