By David Gold
September 10 – The Egyptian Sports Ministry has delayed the start of the new Premier League season for a month, after fans attacked the country’s Football Association headquarters.
Around 2,000 Al-Ahly fans were behind the storming of the building, demanding justice for fellow supporters killed after a match in February.
Their game against Al-Masry in Port Said at the start of February ended in tragedy as a pitch invasion and stampede at the end of the game resulted in 74 deaths, most of them Al-Ahly fans.
Al-Ahly are angry at the resumption of the league while they say justice has not been done for those killed more than six months ago.
Seventy-three people are currently on trial facing charges for their murders.
An 18-team league was meant to begin this month despite the attacks, but is now put back to October 17 following the Sport Ministry’s decision.
However, the Super Cup game between Al-Ahly and ENPPI took place last night, with a number of key players absent.
Among them was Mohammed Aboutrika, who refused to play in support of the club’s fans, while coach Hossam El-Badry dedicated Ahly’s 2-1 win to those killed in the Port Said tragedy.
The Premier League was suspended as a result of the tragedy in February, and football in the country has been in turmoil since, but the Sports Ministry had earlier this month ended a ban on domestic football.
The impact of the suspension has been damaging for the national team, who crashed out of qualifying for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa after being beaten by the Central African Republic in the first round of preliminaries.
That was an embarrassing result for the country, meaning they miss out on the continental showpiece tournament for the second time in a row, having won the previous three African Cup of Nations titles.
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