Ahli board member Khaled Mortagi promises that Friday's crunch Champions League clash with Esperance will be free of violence. Ahli have to win the final game of Group B in order to make it to the semi-finals, whereas Esperance will go through if they managed to avoid defeat. Following the events that marred Ahli's cup game with Kima Aswan last week, concerns have been raised about a potential clash between fans and police at the 80,000-seat Cairo Stadium. "We are confident that nothing bad will happen during the match because we had the same thing when we were playing against ZESCO (in the round of 16) and there was no police whatsoever yet it was a very important game for us," Mortagi told BBC Sport.
"I think what happened in the last match against Kima Aswan was something that is really exceptional and I don't think it will ever happen again.'' In addition to the current tension between the Ultras Ahlawy fan-group and local police, the presence of Esperance fans is regarded as another major concern for security. The last time the Tunisian giants visited Cairo was nearly a year ago in the Champions League semi-final first leg, which witnessed riots at the away supporters' stands in Ahli's 2-1 win. Some 15 supporters were detained temporarily after clashes with local police, Esperance were fined by CAF and ordered to pay the damages caused by their fans at the stadium.
