suffering a humiliating defeat to the Central
African Republic behind closed doors.
After Mohamed Morsi was elected as the
country’s new president, it was announced
that the government would not sanction
the start of the Egyptian Premier League for
the 2012-13 campaign until added security
measures were installed – including airport-
style scanners outside the stadiums. “This
threatens the future of Egyptian football for
years to come,” declared the FA’s concerned
media director Azmi Megahed.
The Ultras Ahlawy shared a very different
view, believing football shouldn’t return until
justice had been meted out for the events of
Port Said. When Al Ahly scheduled a friendly
behind closed doors, ultras urged players to
boycott it – although only Aboutrika agreed.
The boycott didn’t extend to games against
foreign opposition, nor did the ban on fans –
Aboutrika featured as Al Ahly belied their
shortage of domestic fixtures to overcome
Esperance de Tunis in a two-legged African
Champions League final, with a November
home leg played in front of 25,000 people,
110 miles north-west of Cairo in Alexandria.
Two months later came at least some of the
justice the ultras had sought.
“Congratulations on your execution, Port
Said,” read a sign held aloft by a jubilant fan,
among the throngs of Al Ahly supporters
gathered when the verdicts were announced.
A total of 21 people had been sentenced to
death for their roles in the killings at the Port
Said Stadium.
Ultras had shut down Cairo’s metro system
earlier that week, vowing further action if the
verdicts didn’t go their way. Even after those
sentences were dished out, people continued
to demonstrate at the Ministry of Interior’s
headquarters, demanding the prosecution of
police officers on duty that day.
In Port Said, the death sentences sparked
protests – police fired on the crowd and riots
quickly ensued, killing 40 people. President
Morsi angered many by praising the police’s
response to the protest.
LOCKED OUT OF HELL
A week later, in February 2013, the Egyptian
Premier League at last began – without fans
in the stadiums and without Al Masry, who
withdrew for a year. Their Port Said Stadium
had been banned from ever hosting another
domestic fixture. The problems continued,
however: when more verdicts from the trial
were revealed in March, a number of police
officers were acquitted of their alleged roles
in the catastrophe. Al Ahly ultras responded
by attacking police buildings and burning the
HQ of the Egyptian FA.
Within a few months, the whole country
had descended into chaos again: large scale
protests against the government erupted
and Morsi was removed in a military coup.
The Egyptian Premier League was cancelled
for a second year in succession.
Again without domestic match action, the
Egyptian national team lost 6-1 to Ghana to
miss out on the 2014 World Cup, although
Al Ahly won the African Champions League
for a second campaign running after 35,000
were allowed to see the final against Orlando
Pirates in Cairo. Striker Ahmed Abd El-Zaher
celebrated his decisive goal with a gesture in
support of the ousted Morsi – he was swiftly
banned from the national team and sent on
loan to a club in Libya.
The 2013-14 Egyptian Premier League
season didn’t start until late December, but
did at least reach its conclusion this time,
again without fans – not that its resumption
did the national team’s fortunes much good.
Egypt failed to qualify for AFCON for a third
straight tournament.
When 40,000 saw Al Ahly beat Sewe Sport
of the Ivory Coast in the final of the 2014 CAF
Confederations Cup – the African version of
the Europa League – Egypt’s government
decided to finally end the ban on supporters
attending domestic fixtures, three months
later. But that decision led to more distress.
On the first week of their return in February
2015, Zamalek hosted ENPPI in Cairo: 10,000
spectators were granted access, but only
5,000 tickets went on sale – the rest were to
be handed out by invitation. Desperate to
watch their side competing in league action,
huge numbers turned up outside the ground.
Those possessing tickets were told to enter
the stadium via a narrow tunnel – so when
ticketless fans attempted to force their way
inside, police fired tear gas into the tunneland a stampede ensued, killing 22 people.
“Those who fell couldn’t get back up,” said
one eyewitness.
The league was halted yet again, this time
only for a matter of weeks. Matches resumed,
but the prospect of supporters returning to
see them was over. Zamalek won the league
that season in tribute to the deceased – their
first league title for 11 years.
Each of Egypt’s two biggest football clubs
were now mourning a tragedy: on the fourth
anniversary of the Port Said Stadium disaster,
thousands of Al Ahly fans assembled during
an open training session, displaying banners
bearing the faces of those killed, as well as
chanting slogans against the people of Port
Said and senior government figures. Egypt’s
new president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi offered to
meet ultras to build bridges, inviting a small
group to take part in an official investigation
into the mayhem, though that only sparked
more protests in Port Said.
The government weren’t so conciliatory
with Aboutrika – they added him to a terror
list because of alleged links with the now-
banned Muslim Brotherhood party; links he
strenuously denied. More than 200 Zamalek
fans were also imprisoned for months, after
rioting that followed a shock early African
Champions League elimination.
In 2018, another attempt was made to
reintroduce spectators to Egyptian Premier
League games – just 300 at first, then 5,000- but all present had to give their personal
details to the country’s security services and
ultras remained banned, which subdued the
atmosphere. “Egyptian football has died with
the banning of ultras,” said one member of
Zamalek’s Ultras White Knights. Rivals Ultras
Ahlawy promptly announced a freezing of
their activities, after several were arrested
in a new state crackdown against the groups.
When Al Ahly met Zamalek in 2019, only 30
fans were permitted entry – 15 from each
side – in an 86,000-capacity stadium.
Then the pandemic struck, the league was
suspended once more and crowds were back
to zero when it restarted. Zamalek briefly
declared themselves unwilling to play – “We
won’t go on the pitch before a cure is found,”
said captain Hazem Emam – but relented.
It took until October this season for the
ban on spectators to finally be lifted again,
with 2,000 allowed in for league matches –
1,000 from each team. “We’re all committed
to the return of the fans,” said Ahmed Diab,
the head of the Egyptian Club Association.
“There is no football without fans.”
Vociferous support at least produced some
sort of noise when Al Ahly faced Zamalek,
despite the relatively sparse attendance.
“There’s a young generation that has never
seen Al Ahly and Zamalek compete in front
of their supporters,” said one fan.
But there’s a very long way to go until the
Egyptian Premier League returns to where it
was more than a decade ago, when grounds
were throbbing, the national team were kings
of Africa and young players like Salah were
ready to join the adventure.
Amid the turmoil, a generation of fans was
lost. Maybe the next Salah, too.
EGYPT
Top to bottom
The Egyptian FA
HQ is set alight;
as Al Ahly ultras
demand justice;
defendants wait
to hear their fate44 June 2022 FourFourTwo