February 4 – A year and a day after Egypt’s Premier League was suspended following violence at the Port Said stadium where 74 fans died, the league restarted this weekend with two matches on Saturday and two on Sunday.
The remaining first round of matches will be played today (Monday) and Tuesday.
Against a backdrop of week long violence throughout Egypt, the matches kicked off behind closed doors, with fans watching on TV.
With people being killed on the streets both the country’s top clubs and the media had questioned the timing of the league’s resumption.
The fear was that the league restart would lead to an increase in the level of violence, but there seems to be no evidence that the matches lead to any increase in civil unrest. The resumption of the league had already been postponed three times with the latest date being timed for after the trial of the fans accused of causing the deaths in Port Said a year ago.
The trial held in Cairo was a catalyst for further violence in Egypt on the anniversary of the overthrow of President Hosni Mubarak. The Cairo court last Saturday (26 January) sentenced 21 people – all al-Masry fans – to death for their part in the riots following the match in Port said against Al Ahly.
The verdict sparked further violence across Egypt with at least 60 people being killed. The verdict for the remaining 41 fans who were also on trial will be announced in March.
The Egyptian clubs have continued training during the suspension but have struggled to hold on to key players who have been either loaned or transferred to other clubs outside Egypt.
On Thursday Al Ahly released three key personnel to play overseas – with Mohamed Nagy and Ahmed Fathi joining Hull ity (who play in the English Campionship) on load, and Mohamed Aboutrika joining a club in the UAE on loan.
Al-Ahly’s traditional rival, Zamalek, managed to sign long-term target Ahmed Eid, but had to offload Benin striker Razak Omotoyossi after failing to fulfil their financial obligations towards him.
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