They used to be the nation's villains. Now, there is sympathy with them, Inas Mazhar reports Throughout the past year, the Al-Ahli Ultras were blamed for much of what went wrong in the country. At the start of last year's revolution they took their long-running battle with the police in football stadiums to the streets. As such, whenever clashes erupted anywhere, the fingers of accusation perennially pointed to the Ultras, especially those of Al-Ahli. And no matter how hard they tried to defend themselves, in the media or on their official website, they were still the scapegoat, believing they have been set up. Perhaps the last thing the Al-Ahli Ultras expected were to turn from being villains to being victims. For the first time, they are being sympathised with following the Port Said football disaster which left 74 dead, most of them Al-Ahli Ultras. On Sunday the Ultras announced that they were certain that the death toll was around 130, on the basis that some of the Ultras are yet unaccounted for. They said they also have proof of being attacked in the stadium which includes video footage. According to one of their leaders, Karim Ade, dubbed "Kabo" which means leader, they have prepared a list of all the Al-Ahli Ultras who attended the ill-fated game. "We are contacting the families in order to know who's missing. The dead we already know but there are others missing and there are only two options: either they are dead or were arrested by the police," Kabo said. Another leader, "Reioo", blamed the police for the disaster and said that they are dealing with the Ultras just as they did with Khaled Said whose death at the hands of alleged police brutality was one of the reasons behind last year's revolt which brought down the regime. The Al-Ahli Ultras also denied any links to the violent demonstrations at the Ministry of Interior in Mohamed Mahmoud Street. "We have been busy since then burying our colleagues, holding funerals and looking for the missing. We don't have or need to invade the Ministry of Interior. We'll just claim our rights which is the right of the victims," Reioo said. To further back their case and plight, FIFA President Joseph Blatter on Tuesday called on the global football community to assist the families of the disaster and announced that FIFA had started by donating $250,000 to the families of the victims of last week's riots. According to the world governing body the sum would be paid into a charity account opened by Al-Ahli. Blatter also called on the football community "to assist its Egyptian brothers and sisters." The Port Said incident placed the event in fourth place amongst the top 10 worst football disasters in history. The worst football disaster in history occurred in the Lima football stadium in 1964 in Tokyo were 328 people were killed because of riots and a stampede. It was the final qualifier for the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and Peru was playing host to bitter rivals Argentina in the packed stadium. Argentina was leading 1-0 when the officials ruled out a late Peruvian equaliser minutes before full time. Violence immediately ensued and objects were thrown onto the pitch. Security forces on the ground reacted with tear gas into the stands and the crowd tried to disperse. However, stadium gates were locked and the fans were penned in, crushing one another in the panic. The stampede took the lives of 328 fans that day and riots against the police and the government lasted several days afterwards in the streets of Lima. The second ranked stadium disaster was in a league game between two of Accra's most successful clubs, Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club and Asante Kotoko. Fans packed the Accra Sports Stadium on May 2001. Hearts of Oak trailed 1-0 throughout most of the game and came back strongly with two very late goals to win the match 2-1. This did not go down very well with the considerable away crowd, that started to throw bottles and plastic seats onto the pitch. The police immediately reacted to this by firing tear gas straight into the crowd which caused panic and a stampede. A total of 127 fans lost their lives when they tried to force their way out via the exits. Subsequent reports revealed that medical staff had already left the ground and few were there to provide medical aid to the victims. The authorities also charged several police officers after the incident. The stadium itself was rebuilt to meet FIFA standards afterwards and was renamed the Ohene Djan Stadium. This very ground hosted the final of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations. There is little doubt the Hillsborough disaster in April 1989 in Sheffield, England, left a profound impact on football not just in England, but globally. The setting was a FA Cup semi-final between then- powerhouses Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the neutral ground of Hillsborough. The ground was already full when tens of thousands of fans still decided to try to make their way into the ground to see their teams in action. There was overcrowding near the turnstiles, as fans overwhelmed the security personnel on the way into the stadium. As with many other stadia at that time, Hillsborough had fences around the stands to prevent pitch invasions. This turned out to be disastrous as fans were crushed against these fences by incoming fans, 96 of whom died on the spot. The British government conducted an inquiry and the resulting report was known as the Taylor Report. This report set the standard for ground safety for all British stadia going forward, including forcing all the clubs to build all-seater stadiums. Inevitably, this disaster left a deep scar in the football fraternity, especially the Liverpool Football Club. Current club captain Steven Gerrard lost a cousin in this disaster and an annual memorial is held on 15 April for all the victims. The Port Said disaster is ranked fourth place, leaving 74 people dead. In fifth place is the Luzhniki disaster in October 1982 in Moscow, in what was considered a controversial incident in terms of the death toll. Soviet media claimed that 67 had died in the incident, though unofficial estimates have put the death toll at 300 and above. It was a UEFA Cup match between home side FC Spartak and visiting Dutch side HFC Haarlem. The Russians were leading 1-0 and minutes before the full time whistle, as fans were beginning to leave the ground, the home side found the net again and caused a pandemonium. Outgoing fans tried to return and were crushed against the flow of human traffic. Under the communist Soviet government, the state media was highly controlled at that time and the full extent of the incident was not revealed until seven years later, when a sports magazine openly talked about the incident. There is still no official confirmation of the death toll till this date. Sixth is the Ibrox disaster in Glasgow, Scotland in January 1971 when 80,000 fans packed into the terraces of Rangers' Ibrox Stadium in a traditional New Year's Day fixture against bitter rivals Celtic. The home side trailed 1-0 for most of the game. Minutes before the final whistle fans began to make their way to the exits -- a common practice for many fans. In the dying moments of the game, Rangers scored an equaliser, prompting ecstasy amongst the home fans. But this spelled disaster as some fans who were already at the exits tried to turn back in hope of catching some of the action. A massive chain- reaction pile-up of people happened, causing the loss of 66 lives. What was particularly tragic about this disaster was the loss of as many as five children, who had no chance when they were crushed by other adults. Seventh was the Bradford City Stadium (Valley Parade) fire in May 1985 in Bradford, England. The occasion was supposed to be joyous for Bradford City on a spring day in May 1985. The team had already won the promotion to Division Two of English Football (current day League Championship) and a capacity crowded gathered for their last game against Lincoln City. The first half was about to come to an end when a small fire started at one end of the ground. It quickly spread and before long, fans panicked and headed towards the exits. Police officers and some of the fans tried to put out the fire, but failed to find any fire extinguishers. Before long, smoke was everywhere and the game was immediately halted. Both set of players, fans and policemen all joined in to help the fans but the fire took the lives of 56 supporters that day. After the fire, the FA banned the construction of all new wooden grandstands at all UK sport grounds. This incident is cited again as part of the Taylor Report, a set of regulations to modernise all football grounds throughout the UK. Eighth place went to Ellis Park Stadium in South Africa, nine years before South Africa officially hosted the World Cup. Forty-three fans died in Ellis Park -- a venue what would be eventually used in the 2010 World Cup. The disaster took place in April 2001 in Johannesburg, South Africa It was a local derby game between Kaizer Chiefs and Orlando Pirates and the fans packed the stadium to support their teams. A 60,000 capacity crowd were already seated in the stadium when a reported 30,000 more tried to gain entry (due to illegal ticketing and bribes). The crowd got out of control in the first half, when Orlando Pirates equalised and the fans outside of the stadium eagerly tried to push their way in to see what was happening. A stampede occurred and 43 people died on the spot. In ninth place was the Kayseri Atatèrk Stadium disaster in September 1967 in Kayseri, Turkey. Fans began to fight during half-time of a league game between home side Kayserispor and Sivasspor. Investigations revealed afterwards that many of the fans were armed with bats and knives. As the violence spun out of control, the crowd fled and caused a stampede in front of the exits. A total of 40 lives were lost that day in what remained to be the worst sporting disaster in the history of Turkey. In 10th place came the Heysel football stadium disaster in Brussels, Belgium. At the height of British football hooliganism, Liverpool took on Juventus in the May 1985 European Cup (now re- branded as Champions League) final. Just before the kick-off, trouble was brewing between two set of fans who were separated by a temporary chain link fence. Once the game kicked-off, violence escalated. Liverpool fans charged towards the section of Juventus fans and caused a collapse of a perimetre wall. The wall crushed many hapless fans, taking the death toll to 39. In the aftermath, the FA imposed an indefinite ban on English clubs in European competitions. English teams eventually returned five years later (six for Liverpool).
