The domestic football league will start on 17 September sans the Port Said-based club, reports Ahmed Morsy Seven months have passed since the Port Said tragedy that left 74 people dead and hundreds injured following a league game between Ahli and Masri. After a period of will it or won't it, it was finally decided that the Port Said club Masri, site of the massacre, will not participate in the new domestic league season, scheduled to kick off on 17 September. "Masri will not compete in the Egyptian league next season. They have officially declined to participate and their decision is final," Sports Minister El-Amri Farouk told the Modern Kora television show on Monday, adding that Masri will participate in the 2013-2014 season. "The tournament will begin on schedule." Farouk announced. The draw for the fixtures was scheduled for yesterday, Wednesday. In March, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) banned Masri for two years and barred home games in Port Said for three years. In April, the EFA increased its sanctions against Masri, ruling that it would be relegated to the second division and that the home game ban would be for four years. The EFA also banned Masri fans from attending their team's matches for three years. Masri went to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international judicial body based in Switzerland, which ruled that Masri can play in the Egyptian league this season. However, in a stunning turnaround, following the court verdict, Masri announced last month that they would skip the league "out of respect for the martyrs' families" after dozens were killed and hundreds injured in February's Port Said disaster. But following pressure from Masri's supporters and concerns by the club's officials whether the team will indeed be reinstated in the Premier League in the 2013-2014 season, Masri last week did another huge about face by reneging on its promise not to take part in the national football league. "We initially accepted the EFA's recommendation (that the club does not participate in the league) but asked for guarantees that we would be reinstated in the Premier League in the 2013-2014 season," the club said in a statement. "We haven't received any replies so we have decided to take part in the league," the statement added. In addition, Masri officials have begun spending the cash on signing new players to ready for the new season. They proclaimed on Thursday the signing of Ahli's out-of-favour midfielder Mohamed Shawki and Wadi Degla's Hassan Mustafa. "Masri have signed Ahli midfielder Shawki, Wadi Degla's Mustafa, Zamalek midfielder Mohamed Aboul-Ela and Ahmed Ghanem Sultan," the Port Said club's official website said. "The club's management are in talks with Zamalek's Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi and goalkeeper Mahmoud 'Gennish' Abdel-Rahim to sign them for the next season's championship." Masri's shopping spree is being conducted regardless of the EFA's repeated assertions that the club will not be allowed to play in the league this season despite the court's decision to lift sanctions imposed on the team. ''The competitions' committee will organise the fixtures of the next edition of the Egyptian league without Masri," said a statement on EFA's official website. Masri's possible participation is likely to reignite security worries due to the tense relationship between Masri and Ahli's die-hard supporters. Ahli has filed a complaint with the sports minister and the public prosecutor against the EFA, accusing its interim administration of partiality with regard to the Port Said case. Ahli said the association did not make a decision on petitions both clubs had filed against each other before allowing Masri to resort to the international court, which Ahli considered a violation of the statutes of both the EFA and FIFA, the international governing body of association football. In addition, the complaint said Masri paid the international court's fees on behalf of the entire EFA. Ahli added that the EFA did not choose the international court's arbitrator, did not assign a lawyer to defend it, and did not even give a rationale of the decisions made by its complaints committee. "The public should know that the association failed to do its job," said Ahli club manager Mahmoud Allam. "The blood of the martyrs should not have been shed in vain." On many occasions, Ahli's group of often overzealous supporters, the (Ultras Ahlawy), criticised their own club's board for "being too lenient in pressuring the authorities into punishing the culprits" of Egypt's worst ever football tragedy. Meanwhile, a number of Masri fans and security officials are currently facing trial on charges of premeditated murder and negligence. On Friday, the Interior Ministry said it had received threats that a group of hardcore Ultras were planning to storm EFA headquarters. The ministry did not clarify. "I tried to persuade the police that there are no threats, and I asked them to leave but they refused. They acted upon a complaint filed by someone," EFA official Fawzi Ghanem said. Five armoured vehicles were seen in front of the EFA headquarters. Police officials at the scene refused to comment. Unknown assailants, none of whom have been captured, attacked the headquarters last month, smashing its facade after hurling firecrackers and other projectiles. Egypt's hardcore football fans have been at loggerheads with the EFA over a number of issues since February's Port Said disaster when hundreds of Masri supporters invaded the pitch and assaulted Ahli's visiting rivals with knives and clubs. Since then, Egyptian authorities have enforced a crowd ban but it was recently lifted. On the contradictions in Masri's announcement to take part in the league season, sports critic Alaa Sadek said: "There is no credibility in anything said regarding this case." "It seems to be a TV series act. The EFA is still responsible for the chaos since it allowed Masri to go to the international Court of Arbitration though it is considered a violation of the statutes of both the EFA and FIFA," Sadek told Al-Ahram Weekly. "Submitting the case to the Arbitration Court requires not only the resignation of those involved, but also their imprisonment since its ruling will result in disorder and more violence if applied. "In my opinion, Masri's participation in the coming league is impossible and their actions are only a means to impose pressure to guarantee their participation in the 2013-2014 season," Saded added. On the other hand, EFA announced that the Egypt Super Cup game between the premier league winner Ahli and Egypt's Cup champion Enppi will be played on 8 September in Military Stadium, the state-run news agency MENA reported on Friday. The EFA also revealed the crucial showdown will be held behind closed doors due to security reasons. As for the new football 2012-2013 season, it will kick off on 17 September after being suspended the previous season following the Port Said disaster. But Sadek predicted the season won't finish. "There are many obstacles that will emerge when the season begins. Most of the parties fear bearing the responsibility of any danger or threat, among them the EFA and the Interior Ministry," Sadek said. "Egyptian sports are still full of felool (remnants) of the old regime," Sadek said. "Hence, firstly the field needs to be reformed as they only work for their interests."
