By Mark Baber
19 December – The start of the Egyptian Premier League season, scheduled for 18 December has been postponed again by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA).
This third postponement comes as Egypt faces further political turmoil triggered by President Mursi’s Presidential decree of 22 November (giving himself sweeping powers) and a two-part referendum on a draft constitution, the second part of which goes ahead on 22 December.
According to the EFA the first and second weeks of the competition will be postponed and the season will now start on December 30th
with the third week’s round of matches The matches will be played without spectators and on pitches belonging to the armed forces.
As InsideWorldFootball previously reported, Egyptian football’s hard core fan base with their strong antipathy to the security forces, have featured prominently in the Egyptian revolution.
Ultra groups are amongst Egypt’s largest civic groups and previous postponements have been hailed as victories in their struggle to force reform of the security forces and hold senior officials to account for the deaths of supporters and protesters.
The continued postponements are, however, a financial disaster for Egyptian football.
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