CAIRO: Scores of Egyptian football fans poured onto the streets surrounding the al-Ahly club in the Gezeera neighborhood near downtown Cairo Wednesday night chanting against the military ruling council only hours after 73 fans died and hundreds injured following a match between Ahly and al-Masry in Port Said. “Down with the military council”, “Leave levae” and “we will not rest until we retaliate” were being chanted, expressing public anger towards the absence of security forces as the violence occurred. Eyewitnesses at the game confirmed that the police forces that were guarding the match and the gates separating the teams and the fans, opened the gates to allow al-Masry fans onto the pitch and then fled the scene, allowing chaos and clashes to take place. The Masry fans were seen carrying large sticks and throwing rocks and fire crackers at their adversaries. Ahly players said that police and armed forces were nowhere to be seen during or after the clashes and rumors were that the al-Masry fans, who initiated the attack after the match, were allegedly preventing the ambulances from entering the stadium for an hour and half. Some players were also injured during the attack. Ahly TV showed split screen footage of the clashes beginning and riot police, clad with shields, standing in a tunnel immobile and not moving to intervene. A makeshift medical unit was established in the Ahly locker room, where the fans and players took shelter from the attack. The head of the Ahly club said the locker room turned into a morgue where people were dying as a result of a lack of medical assistance. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/3C3KK Tags: Ahly, featured, Protests, SCAF Section: Egypt, Egyptian Sport, Latest News
