December 8 – About 2,000 fans stormed Cairo’s main stadium at the weekend ahead of a rare match that supporters were allowed to attend. Egyptian fans have been barred from attending domestic league matches for the past four seasons after political violence by organised fan groups have led to riots and deaths.
The game was the second leg of Al Ahly’s African Confederations Cup Final against Ivory Coast’s Sewe Sport and the fans used the occasion to protest against the former regime of Hosni Mubarak and subsequent Egyptian governments, including that of the currently military backed Al Sisi regime.
Their conduct came despite a plea by the interior ministry, which lifted the government’s spectator ban for this match, to behave. It was resolved when the fans agreed to leave and those with tickets allowed to re-enter the stadium, without which the fixture might well have been cancelled.
Al-Ahly supporters, who are deeply politicized, frequently clash with police inside and outside of stadiums. Many participated in the country’s 2011 uprising that forced out Mubarak. Since the Port Said tragedy in 2012, when 74 people were killed in rioting, most matches have been closed to the public.
Al Ahly ended up winning the trophy for the first time on the away goals rule with a dramatic 1-0 win in the sixth minute of injury time. It was a record-extending 19th African title for Ahly, whose collection includes eight CAF Champions League titles, six CAF Super Cup triumphs and four African Cup Winners Cup titles.
Victory lifted some of the gloom hanging over Egyptian football after the failure of the national team to qualify for next year’s Africa Cup of Nations.
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