Archive for football fans

Malaysia hopes to defend football title, but worries abound

by admin
November 26th, 2012

Malaysia looks to begin defense of Suzuki title on Sunday.

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is set to begin defense of their AFF Suzuki Cup football title this Sunday, but many in the country are worried that they are not up to the task after suffering a series of defeats in recent months to countries they should have defeated.

“We are really wondering if this Malaysia team has what it takes,” said football fan and Malaysian Yussif. He told Bikyamasr.com that “the recent form doesn’t rally us behind the team as in years’ past, but we’ll see what they do on the field.”

Southeast Asian champions Malaysia host neighbor Singapore in what is set to be an intense atmosphere at Kuala Lumpur’s Bukit Jalil National Stadium on Sunday, with the home fans hoping to see their team repeat their title run of 2010.

The Tigers showed bite in that tournament when they overcame a poor start to win the Southeast Asian title for the first time with a 4-2 aggregate victory over Indonesia in the final.

Coach K. Rajagobal has maintained the nucleus of that winning side but their form has dipped alarmingly with warm-up losses to Vietnam and Thailand, and draws at home against unfancied Hong Kong and Bangladesh.

Rajagobal was livid after Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with Bangladesh and warned he would make “drastic changes” if they slip-up again this weekend.

“We didn’t get the desired result against Bangladesh and I’ll take stern action if we don’t get a positive result against Singapore,” he said.

“I’m concerned with the team’s display… Another below-par performance will force me to make drastic changes to the team.”

For Malaysians and football fans in the region, the tournament is a rare chance to see all the countries on the same field, competing for bragging rights for the next two years.

“I hope we show spirit and battle,” added Yussif.

BM

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Egypt’s football Ultras march on presidential palace, demand justice for Port Said massacre

by admin
October 13th, 2012

Egypt football fans want justice before league resumed.

CAIRO: A few thousand Egyptian football fans, or Ultras, organized a march towards the presidential palace on Thursday night calling for President Mohamed Morsi to cancel the Egyptian league until the killing of 75 football fans in the city of Port Said earlier this year is resolved.

The Ahly football club fans have protested before, asking for a halting of matches, saying that the return of the national football league is “inappropriate” when justice has not been achieved for those killed in the violence.

A few days earlier, the sports ministry announced the return of the league on October 17, which raised the fan’s anger and saw them protest outside the ministry.

On February 1, at least 75 football fans were killed when riots broke out in the Port Said stadium between the visiting al-Ahly supporters and the host city’s fans.

Witnesses to the events in the Port Said violent attack said police and security personnel stood by and allowed the violence to spiral out of control, even locking fans inside and barring them from leaving the stadium.

Fans were thrown off the top level of the stadium, knifed and clubbed to death as video of security forces showed that they stood inside and failed to intervene in the violence.

BM

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Categories Egypt Sport
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Update: First football match since Port Said goes ahead despite protests

by admin
September 9th, 2012

The inaugural match of the Super Cup, between the Ahly and ENPI clubs, began at 9 pm on Sunday at Borg al-Arab stadium in Alexandria, despite protests from some football fans to cancel football matches until justice is attained for the victims of the Port Said Stadium violence last February.

The players arrived at the stadium an hour beforehand amid tight security.

Alexandria security forces had earlier expressed reservations about their preparedness to secure the match. The match was set to begin at 8 pm, but local security said they would need one extra hour to secure it.

Alexandria Governor Khaled Ghoraba had said the match would be played on time, but no spectators would be allowed in the vicinity of 6.5 kilometers from the stadium. Earlier Sunday, thousands of the Ultras Ahlawy, a group of hardcore Ahly Club football fans, marched to Borg al-Arab Stadium, where the match is set to be played, threatening to stop the match by force.

President Mohamed Morsy’s spokesperson said at a press conference earlier Sunday that the president was not responsible for deciding whether the match would be played. The match is the first official Egyptian football match since the Port Said Stadium violence in February.

“It is up to the Sports Ministry to cancel or allow the match to be played,” spokesperson Yasser Ali said.

Sports Minister Al-Emary Farouq insisted Saturday that the match would go ahead. He also criticized Ahly player Mohamed Abu Treika for refusing to play, in solidarity with the ultras.

Early last February, 74 were killed and hundreds injured after fans of the local Port Said football team, Masry, stormed the field following a rare victory.

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Port Said trial court views footage of violence

by admin
July 11th, 2012

The Port Said Criminal Court adjourned Wednesday the trial of 73 suspects charged with killing 74 football fans to 15 July after viewing footage recorded by Port Said Stadium cameras at the request of the defense lawyers.

A judicial source told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the court would continue screening footage and also would hear the testimonies of prosecution witnesses when it reconvenes.

Seventy-four football fans were killed following a match between Port Said’s local club, Masry, and Cairo-based Ahly on 1 February when Masry fans stormed the field and attacked the stands where Ahly supporters were sitting.

The public prosecution referred the suspects to trial on 15 March. The prosecution charged nine policemen, three officials from the Masry club and the electrical engineer in charge of the Port Said Stadium with helping the perpetrators of the incident commit murder. The prosecution charged the physical attackers with “premeditated murder and attempted murder.”

Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Chief coroner: Port Said victims bore no signs of stabbing, gunshots

by admin
May 9th, 2012

The Port Said Criminal Court heard on Wednesday the account of Egypt's chief coroner, Ihsan Kamil Georgy, in the trial of 75 accused of killing 74 football fans in Port Said Stadium on 1 February.

A premier league match between Port Said's club, Masry, and the visiting Ahly Club had a bloody ending when Masry fans swarmed the pitch. The ensuing rampage led to the death of 74 of Ahly fans.

This is the court's third session of the trial, which is being held at Cairo's Police Academy for security reasons.

During the session, Georgy told plaintiffs lawyers that victims' corpses showed no incisions or wounds caused by gunshots, and explained that all the deaths occurred when Ahly fans stampeded to the exits when attacked by the home fans. His remarks enraged the victims' families who were present in the courtroom.

"I am a surgeon and can tell that this untrue. My son was wounded,” one said, interrupting Georgy.

Georgy, however, said he had only examined 42 bodies.

At the end of the session, the court adjourned to prepare for reviewing recordings of the violence.

Edited Translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Port Said trial begins at Police Academy amid heightened security

by admin
April 17th, 2012

The trial of 75 defendants implicated in the deaths of 74 football fans in Port Said began Tuesday in Cairo’s Police Academy, in the same courtroom as the trial for former President Hosni Mubarak.

Judge Emil Habashy, head of the Port Said Criminal Court, was forced to suspend the session after the plaintiffs and defendants’ lawyers began shouting at each other. The session is being broadcast live on state television.

On 1 February, supporters of Port Said’s home club, Masry, and Cairo’s leading team, Ahly, began clashing after Masry fans stormed the pitch following a rare victory. In the ensuing violence, 74 were killed and hundreds injured in one of the deadliest football-related incidents in history. Critics have accused security forces of doing little to prevent the fighting in the stadium.

A month later, Attorney General Abdel Meguid Mahmoud referred the suspects in the case to criminal court, including nine Port Said police officers and three Masry club executives. Two minors were also referred to juvenile court.

Police have said it would be impossible to hold the trial in Port Said due to security concerns, and later set the trial to be held in the highly guarded Police Academy, where Mubarak, former Interior Ministry Habib al-Adly and six former security officials have been tried on charges of involvement in killing protesters during the 18-day uprising early last year.

Early Tuesday morning, state TV reported that the Interior Ministry and army forces have devised a plan to protect the academy during the trial; 4,000 riot police agents are set to be deployed.

Scores of fans of the Ahly club, known as the Ultras Ahlawy, were present in front of the Police Academy in the morning. In a statement on their Facebook page on Monday, they urged members not to respond to “provocations” at the trial and protect the families of the victims outside the court.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Source: Authorities arrest 15 over football clashes

by admin
March 25th, 2012

Egypt's security forces said on Sunday they had arrested 15 people after two days of clashes between angry football fans and military police that killed one person and injured 65 in the industrial city of Port Said.

Football supporters took to the streets on Friday and Saturday to protest against a decision by the Egyptian Football Association to ban Port Said club Masry for two seasons over the country's worst stadium disaster.

More than 70 fans were killed last month during a pitch invasion at Port Said's stadium, the most deadly incident since the protests that toppled President Hosni Mubarak last year.

"Fifteen suspects were arrested during the clashes that took place between the army and protesters in front of the Suez Canal Authority building in Port Said," a security source told Reuters.

The suspects would be charged with attempting to storm the canal authority's building and with destroying public and private property, the source added.

During the February pitch invasion, steel doors at the stadium were bolted shut, trapping fans trying to escape from the stands. Dozens were crushed to death.

Many fans blamed the government for failing to send enough police to the stadium given the tense build-up to the match, and many believe the violence was started by hired thugs. At least 1,000 people were injured.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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Update: One killed in Port Said after football fans clash with troops

by admin
March 24th, 2012

 

One person has been killed and 18 injured in clashes between security forces and angry football fans in Port Said after the Masry club was banned for two seasons following the Port Said Stadium massacre, Al Jazeera reported.

“One was shot dead, in the back, and 18 were injured in the clashes, two of them are suffering gunshot wounds,” a medical source told Al-Jazeera.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said the club was banned for two seasons following the pitch invasion that killed 74 fans on 1 February when Port Said-based Masry beat Cairo's Ahly team, the most successful club in Africa.

Port Said Stadium, where the violence took place, will be closed for three years, the EFA said, and Masry will be reinstated to the premier league for the 2013/14 season.

Hundreds of football fans took to the streets of Port Said, infuriated by the decision. Clashes started when some fans tried to storm a Suez Canal administrative building. Witnesses said the army used tear gas and fired shots in the air to disperse the protesters.

The clashes began late on Friday and continued into the early hours of Saturday, witnesses said.

Masry fans have repeatedly denied responsibility for the February massacre, saying that the attack was plotted by members of the former regime.

Steel doors at the stadium were bolted shut during the violence, trapping fans trying to escape from the stands, and the stadium lights were turned off. Dozens were crushed to death and at least 1,000 people were injured.

Many blamed the government for failing to send enough police to the stadium given the tense build-up to the match, and many believe the violence was started by hired thugs. Police and stadium officials were also blamed for failing to confiscate fireworks, knives and other weapons from people entering the stadium.

Prosecutors referred 75 people, including nine security officials in Port Said, to the criminal court on March 15 to face trial over the violence.

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Categories Egypt, Egypt Top Stories
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