By Mark Baber
February 23 – Egypt has this morning officially abandoned its bid to host the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in favour of Algeria, whilst the government has confirmed the Egyptian Premier League will not be cancelled for this season, although no fans will be allowed into stadiums and President El-Sisi promised in a speech on Sunday that any official found culpable in the deaths of at least 20 Zamalek fans earlier this month would face punishment from the courts.
Egyptian youth and sports minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz announced Monday that: “We have decided to withdraw our application and will support that of Algeria.” The decision comes two weeks after the deaths of Zamalek supporters as they were fired on by police whilst trying to enter Cairo’s Air Defence stadium ahead of a Premier League match with ENPPI.
The move by Egypt leaves Algeria, Gabon and Ghana in the running to hold the 2017 edition of Africa’s premier national level football tournament, with the winner due to be unveiled on April 8.
On Sunday in a televised speech, Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi addressed the killing of the Zamalek fans, linking the deaths to the killing by police of leftist activist Shaimaa El-Sabagh in a peaceful protest and saying: “Anyone involved in such problems will be held accountable if proven guilty… both cases are being investigated by the general prosecutors, I don’t interfere with judicial matters.”
According to Sisi: “We do not want these issues, despite their importance, to make us sceptical of each other…we have no benefit in neglecting or stepping over people’s rights.”
On Saturday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab told Egyptian TV viewers there is no intention to cancel the currently suspended season of the Egyptian Premier League, but “frankly, I hope the league returns but it must resume in a secure and safe atmosphere.”
According to Mahlab: “We will discuss this subject next week in the cabinet. Our priority is to balance the importance of the league’s return with the safety of footballers.”
The Egyptian cabinet last week approved a request of the Ministry of Youth and Sports to give EGP 100,000 (£8,500) in compensation to each family of the football fans killed on February 8.
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