The unprecedented riot which engulfed the Zamalek match badly tarnished the image of Egyptian football, Abeer Anwar reports It might be the last time Zamalek's football team plays in Cairo International Stadium. The damage done to one of the most famous football arenas in the world was estimated at LE2.5 million. But the bigger damage was done to the image of Egyptian football after thousands of people invaded the pitch last Saturday before the end of an African Champions League match between Cairo giants Zamalek and Club Africain of Tunisia. Zamalek are expected to face stiff penalties from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) which might prevent the team from playing in Africa's most prestigious football club tournament for the next two years. The CAF disciplinary board announced that it would meet this month in Johannesburg, South Africa, to decide on the reports submitted by officials of the match which was abandoned after fans invaded the pitch on 2 April. In a statement, CAF reiterated its call to all national associations, clubs, players and supporters to help enforce and promote the spirit of fair play in all CAF competitions. It all started when Zamalek, who had lost the first leg match 4-2 to the Tunisian side, was leading 2-1 in Cairo with only three minutes to go before the end. When Zamalek striker Ahmed Gaafar netted a header in the dying seconds, the 35,000 spectators believed their prayers had been answered and that they had won, even though the goal was clearly offside. Shortly after the assistant referee flagged for offside, thousands of angry Zamalek supporters invaded the pitched. In seconds, the field was flooded by people while the smoke from firecrackers consumed much of the playing area. The fans who rushed in assaulted anyone in sight, Egyptian and Tunisian. They tore seats apart, the goal nets, broke apart the goalpost and bars themselves, the teams' benches and advertising boards. People of all ages and classes seemingly had a special task that day. Armed with knives, some attacked the players and the referees, wile others turned to damaging the stadium's facilities. Still others were seen running happily after the players, trying to force them to pose for pictures. They ran waving their flags around the pitch as if they were celebrating victory. Picked out from the thousands was one young man, donned in a traditional galabiya, running aimlessly on the pitch, wondering around as if lost, unaware of the tumult around him. The individual became an overnight Facebook celebrity. Security men were few in number but were able, with the help of Zamalek's players, to escort the referees and the stunned Tunisian players safely out of the pitch. Some Tunisian players were stripped of their shorts and jerseys. Egyptian and Tunisian journalists blamed the twin brothers Ibrahim and Hossam Hassan, Zamalek's football manager and head coach respectively, for encouraging the fans to invade the pitch in reply to what took place in Tunisia two weeks ago in the first leg when four local fans took to the field, but just to greet the players. The twins defended themselves on TV, saying they would never have encouraged such behaviour. But a Youtube clip appears to show Ibrahim Hassan meeting with Zamalek ultras before the match. He also reportedly waved to the fans just before the game ended, encouraging them to run onto the pitch. Zamalek president Galal Ibrahim defended the team's coaching staff while the Algerian referee said he would never have made it out of the pitch without the help of Hossam Hassan. That same night, Egypt's Prime Minister Essam Sharaf apologised to Tunisia and Algeria and said the league should be cancelled although on Tuesday the Egyptian Football Association said the league would resume on 13 April with supporters in the stadiums. The EFA said it had received the green light from the ruling military, the prime minister and the Interior Ministry. The league had stopped when demonstrations which eventually ousted Hosni Mubarak as president began on 25 January. Sharaf also received the ambassador of Algeria and acting ambassador of Tunisia in his office to officially apologise for the incident. The following morning, head of the Egyptian Sports Council Hassan Sakr, EFA President Samir Zaher and Zamalek President Galal Ibrahim visited the Algerian and Tunisian embassies with similar apologies. Egyptians marched to the two embassies waving the flags of Tunisia and Algeria asking that their apology be accepted. In the evening, about 3,000 Egyptians demonstrated in Tahrir Square demanding the twins, dubbed 'the bad boys of Egyptian soccer' for their temper, be sacked. "We still had extra time and a chance to be the winners so we are not that stupid to put Zamalek, our team, in such a situation," Hossam said in his defence. "Zamalek will be punished by the CAF which means that our job will be affected so we can never accept such an accusation." The Military Council has called on the prime minister to open an investigation into the matter. Reports claimed that the stadium manager had reported to both the police and the army that about 2,000 armed spectators had entered the stadium at 11am on the day of the match and that there were no security precautions taken by officials. A Facebook group called White Nights with a reported membership 21,000, apologised to Tunisians. The group's founder, who preferred to remain anonymous, was quoted as saying the group was founded four years ago and had a noble mission: to try to improve Zamalek's image. The White Nights are currently collecting money to be used to fix the stadium. They plan to visit the complex on 9 April. It was the fifth match to be staged in Egypt since the revolution that saw Mubarak step down as president on 11 February. None of them witnessed any violence. In other African matches, despite losing 1-0 to South Africa's Super Sport United, Ahli qualified for the CAF Champions League round of 16 on a 2-1 aggregate win. The Red Devils had beaten the South African side 2-0 at home in the first leg. Ismaili board members are discussing the future of Dutch coach Mark Wotte after Ismaili lost 4-0 to Kenya's Sofapaka in the Confederations Cup, thus being eliminated from the competition after winning the first leg 2-0. Also in the Confederations Cup, Haras Al-Hedoud advanced to the round of 16 after a 1-1 away draw in the second leg against Dedebit in Ethiopia on Saturday after crushing the Ethiopian side 4-0 in Cairo two weeks earlier.
