CAIRO - Anwar Saleh, the head of the Executive Committee of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), decided Wednesday to indefinitely suspend the ‘The Martyrs' Cup' after Al-Ahly and Zamalek Ultras groups threatened to invade the pitches if the tournament and the Egypt's Cup go ahead before the perpetrators of the massacre in Port Said are punished. Last Saturday, after a meeting with the clubs' representatives, the EFA decided to cancel the Egyptian Premier League 2011-12 season, replacing it with a friendly tournament called ‘The Martyrs' Cup', besides playing Egypt's Cup, starting on March 29. "The tournament will not be held until the announcement of the results of the Port Said investigations," EFA spokesman Azmi Megahed said, pointing out that the EFA will announce the punishment for Al-Masry Club soon. The EFA was due to announce the punishment Wednesday, but, for security reasons, the announcement has been delayed. According to some sources at EFA, punishment for Al-Masry would include relegation and being deprived from playing at home for three years. Megahed added that the EFA has yet to receive Ministry of Interior approval for securing the matches and playing the ‘The Martyrs' Cup'. "If we don't get the approval, we will ask the armed forces to secure the friendly tournament, especially as the matches will be held in four military stadiums ��" the Military Stadium, El-Geish Stadium, Borg el-Arab Stadium and Haras el-Hedoud Stadium,” he stressed. Last Saturday at an emergency meeting, the representatives of the Premier League clubs reached an agreement with the EFA board to exclude Al-Masry from the tournament for many reasons. The temporary committee now running the EFA is headed by Saleh, after the previous board members resigned in the wake of the Port Said tragedy early last month. "The draw for the friendly tournament will be held on March 21, with 18 clubs being divided into two groups. The matches are due to start on March 29, without the clubs' international players,” said an EFA statement, adding that the Egypt's Cup will be played as scheduled before May 20, but behind closed doors and again without the clubs' international players. Al-Ahly and Zamalek Ultras groups have refused to resume their sports activities before perpetrators of the massacre of Port Said, that left at least 74 Al-Ahly fans dead and injured around 1,000 more, are punished, said a statement posted on the Facebook page of the two groups, in the wake of the EFA decision to call off the Premier League and replace it with the ‘The Martyrs' Cup'. The two groups' demands mainly focus on swift justice and retribution for those who killed the fans. "We want the perpetrators of the Port Said massacre to be swiftly punished and the results of investigations to be announced with full transparency. We won't let this disaster be forgotten," the two groups added in their statement. Seconds after the final whistle of a match between them in Port Said on February 1, thousands of supporters of Port Said team Al-Masry invaded the pitch, hurling bottles and rocks at the fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly. Al-Ahly Club has in principle declared that the first week of every February will be known as ‘Al-Ahly Martyrs' Week'. Al-Ahly had the first Ultras fan group in Egypt, the Ahly Fans Club. Then, in 2007, the group split into two big Ultras groups, Ultras Ahlawy (UA07) and Ultras Devils (UD07). Ultras Ahlawy is based in Cairo while Ultras Devils is based in Alexandria and has members from other coastal cities near Alexandria. Ultras Ahlawy mostly consists of well-educated graduates and young people of every social level in Egypt. Zamalek is also one of the most popular clubs in the country. An Ultras group was formed in 2007 for Zamalek fans and was called ‘Ultras White Knights'.
