Inas Mazhar lists Ahli's grievances in the wake of penalties imposed on the club following the Port Said soccer disaster The Ahli football club on Tuesday released an official statement denouncing penalties meted out by the Egyptian Football Association in the wake of the Port Said football tragedy. There was no reaction from the other team involved, Masri of Port Said, because the club currently has no president or board, all of whom resigned in the wake of the disaster. Seventy-four fans were killed in a league soccer riot on February 1 in Port Said between Ahli and Masri. Most of those killed were Ahli supporters. The Ahli club board of directors met on Monday evening to discuss the sanctions imposed by the EFA on Friday. After hours of deliberations, the club board released a statement on Tuesday read out in a press conference held at Ahli club and attended by General Manager Mahmoud Allam. The statement described the decisions of the EFA as "contradictory and shocking to Egyptian fans in general not only Ahli." According to Allam, the decisions "weren't equal to the expectations or to the importance of the situation and the grave disaster. Ahli officials believe that these decisions and penalties were meted out in order to satisfy both parties but were unfair to the Ahli club, its fans and victims." The statement said that though the EFA had stated that it had based its decisions according to EFA and FIFA rules, it is clear that they have taken only certain parts for certain penalties and ignored other incidents which occurred during the match. The Ahli club believes that the EFA deliberately ignored imposing penalties on those incidents, which were viewed by millions on TV, and is proof against Masri. The incidents committed by Masri club and fans, according to Ahli, were throwing fireworks on the Ahli players before and during the game; Masri fans hanging a banner addressed to the Ahli club and fans saying 'Your death is here'; attacking the Ahli team, staff and players following the game by running after them into the dressing room; a signal by Masri goalkeeper Ahmed El-Shennawi to the Ahli players and fans during the game that they are going to be "slaughtered"; swearing at the Ahli team throughout the match; and using lasers during the match, affecting the players' vision and concentration. As for both the referee and the match commissioner their mistakes were allowing the Masri fans onto the pitch thus failing to protect the Ahli team during the match which also saw the home fans throwing items on the players as well as invading the pitch after every goal. Masri had won the game 3-1. The Ahli club also said it found the penalty against Port Said Stadium "meaningless" because it meant Masri can play matches in any other stadium in Port Said. Regarding suspending Masri club for two seasons, Ahli said it believed that while the EFA banned Masri for two seasons it forgot that it already cancelled the 2011-2012 season on 15 March which means that Masri is now banned for only one year since the decision says that the club can resume playing the 2013-2014 season. Ahli added that playing without fans was a decision null and void since the EFA had taken a decision months ago in which it scrapped a league decision to play without fans and replaced it with clubs paying fines instead. Accordingly, the Ahli board decided the following: Rejecting all the decisions taken by the EFA's temporary acting committee as it does not comply with the huge disaster; boycotting any football activities to be organised by the EFA as long as the current committee remains running the EFA; taking all legal action by going to the Appeals Committee of the EFA headed by Hazem Badawi; assigning a Swiss lawyer to secure the rights of the club and its victims; confirming Ahli's previous decision issued on 2 February to boycott any sports events taking place in Port Said for five years; and calling on official authorities to speed up the investigation and prosecution for the sake of the 74 victims. Last Friday the Egyptian Football Association EFA took the following decisions against both Masri and Ahli: Port Said's football team was banned from any football activities for two years while Port Said stadium would host no matches for three years. As for Ahli, the club was fined LE5,000 while its fans were banned from attending four football matches to be played the club. Head coach Manuel Jose was banned from four matches while Hossam Ghali was banned the same and fined 5,000 for misconduct with the referee before the conclusion of the match. Ahli and Masri have rejected the decisions, claiming they were unfair, illegal and did not abide by FIFA rules. But Anwar Saleh, the EFA secretary-general who is currently acting president of the EFA, said the EFA had taken the decision based on FIFA rules and regulations. "The decisions and penalties we took are in accord with both EFA and FIFA regulations. We have revised those rules and accordingly took the decisions. We also checked the referee's and commissioner's reports of the game which also saw Ahli committing mistakes as well. Therefore they had to be punished." Ahli football players felt the EFA was too soft on Masri. They say they witnessed death first-hand, including fans who died in their arms in the dressing room after the ill-fated match. Players Mohamed Abu Treika and Ahmed Fathi described it as a traumatic experience.
