Egyptian stage set for confrontations with ultras

By James M. Dorsey

Militant, street battle-hardened soccer fans played a key role in toppling Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and resisting the military rulers who succeeded him. Almost three years later and four months after the military removed from office Egypt’s first democratically elected president, the stage appears to be set for renewed confrontations with the fans, one of the country’s largest civic groups.

The potential for confrontation is compounded by Egypt’s 6:1 loss earlier this month of a crucial 2014 World Cup qualifier against Ghana. Opposition forces and supporters of deposed President Mohammed Morsi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, blame Egypt’s defeat on military strongman General Abdel Fatah al-Sisi. "You jinxed us, el-Sisi," said Mohammed Dardeer on Facebook, describing the general as "religiously defiled" in a comment reminiscent of perceptions in Iran that blamed the Islamic republic’s soccer failures on the intense interest in the game displayed by former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. 

Ghana defeated Egypt at a time that the country is deeply divided between supporters and opponents of the military that deposed President Mohamed Morsi and brutally cracked down on his Brotherhood. The coup prompted many of the military’s opponents to view the national team as representing the regime rather than the country much as militant soccer fans did under Mubarak. That earned them charges of being traitors by those who see the Brotherhood rather than the military as the greatest obstacle to resolving Egypt’s political crisis.

“When a large number of Egyptians, too many to be ignored, felt happy after our national team lost to Ghana, didn't the coup organizers ask themselves why they felt this way towards their national team? They most likely will not bother themselves to think about it, but will claim naively, ‘It is out of spite so that no victories, not even in football, will be attributed to General Al-Sisi…  Al-Sisi's Egypt is no longer the Egypt of love that celebrates victories, as tyranny and injustice cannot win; they are defeated in every aspect, whether militarily, as in 1967 (Israel’s defeat of Egypt), or on the sports field. It is ironic that one of the coup leaders called the football result a catastrophe, which was what the 1967 defeat was called.” quipped Amira Abo el-Fetouh in the Middle East Monitor.

Ghana’s stunning thrashing of Egypt did persuade the military to allow some 30,000 fans to attend the return match in an out-of-the-way Cairo stadium scheduled for November 19 despite a ban on spectators in stadia designed to avert political protests. The symbolism of Egypt’s performance – victory or defeat – in the return match weighs heavy on the game given the regime’s need to project itself more positively internationally and to counter the analogy of defeats on the military and the soccer battlefields. The symbolism is all the greater with General Al-Sisi also celebrating his birthday on November 19.

The government’s decision to open the World Cup qualifier to spectators prompted Mohammed Yussef, the manager of storied Cairo club Al Ahli SC, to demand that fans also be allowed to attend the team’s African Championship match in Cairo on November 9 against South Africa's Orlando Pirates. Al Ahli fans are among Egypt’s most militant and have been in the frontlines of the country’s major protests in recent years. "We need fans to attend this very important match. Ahli is battling for the reputation of Egyptian football," Mr. Yussef said in a reference to the Ghanaian humiliation of the Egyptian national team.

But even without politics intruding on Egypt’s struggle to qualify for next year’s Cup in Brazil, potential flashpoints for confrontations with militant soccer fans are emerging. A court in the Suez Canal city of Port Said this week postponed until December the retrial of 11 militant supporters of Al Masri SC sentenced for premeditated murder to jail terms ranging from 15 years to life for their role in last year’s politically loaded brawl in which 74 members of Al Ahli were killed. Last year’s sentencing to death of 21 of their colleagues sparked an uprising in Port Said and other Suez Canal cities. If the sentences against the 11 are upheld, renewed protests are likely. By the same token, a reversal could spark protests in Cairo by Al Ahli supporters.

Police last week used to tear gas to disperse hundreds of Al Ahli supporters wearing their signature red T-shirts inscribed with the words: “Ultras are not criminals.” The fans were protesting the arrest of 25 of their colleagues who allegedly had tried to storm a Cairo airport terminal as the club’s handball team returned from Morocco. A member of the Ultras White Knights, the militant support group of Al Ahli Cairo rival Al Zamalek SC, was killed by security forces earlier this month, when the group tried to storm the club’s headquarters demanding the resignation of its president.

Youth groups and soccer fans have warned that a draft protest law approved by the military-backed government that is currently being reviewed by interim president Adly Mansour paves the way for the return of the police state they had sought to destroy with the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak. The law gives security forces rather than the judiciary the right to cancel or postpone a planned protest or change its location. It obliges organizers to provide authorities in advance details of the planned protest, including the identity of the organizers and their demand. It further bans protests in within a 100 meter radius of government buildings.

In a statement, the April 6 youth movement warned: “Time will not go back to the era of rulers issuing laws to silence their opponents."

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog as well as a forthcoming book with the same title.

Soccer militants put their mark on Egyptian protests

By James M. Dorsey

A soccer brawl last year in which more than 70 militant soccer fans died galvanized significant numbers of Egyptians against the military and security forces. The brawl accelerated the military’s desire to turn power over to an elected government.

Eighteen months later, mass protests, involving Muslim Brothers, non-Brothers and militant, street battle-hardened soccer fans are opposing the military ouster of elected president Mohammed Morsi and the subsequent brutal crackdown on the Brotherhood, both of which were backed by a significant segment of Egyptian society.

The ingrained resistance to military rule and arbitrary security forces of many soccer fans and the youth groups that formed the backbone of the popular uprising that forced President Hosni Mubarak out of office in early 2011 is again visible in more than the fact that it has been adopted by a far wider part of the Egyptian public. It has been reinforced by what many Egyptians perceive to be a restoration of repressive features of the Mubarak era.

Events in recent days have demonstrated that while Egypt remains deeply divided public opinion is fluid and that backing for the military coup against Mr. Morsi is fragile and conditional. The first cracks in that support have manifested themselves despite a significant number of Egyptians egging the military and the security forces on to be even tougher in their crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood.

In quick succession, various prominent supporters of the coup have resigned or sought to distance themselves from the brutality of the crackdown that as of this writing has caused the death of more than 700 people.

Mohammed el Baradei, an international civil servant and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, resigned as vice-president of the military-appointed government that succeeded Mr. Morsi because in his words "the beneficiaries of what happened … are those who call for violence, terrorism and the most extreme groups".

Khaled Dawoud, spokesman of the National Salvation Front, an umbrella for 11 pro-military political parties, stepped down days later because a majority of the Front refused to condemn the bloodshed at the hands of the security forces. His successor, Ahmed Howari, in one of his first public statements was careful to balance his remarks with expressions of sincere regret about the way security forces were seeking to repress the opposition to the military.

The impact of the fans goes further than the fact that their anti-military attitudes have gained greater currency because of qualms about military disruption of a democratic process, even if Mr. Morsi had succeeded in becoming widely reviled after only a year in office, and security force brutality that was one of the main drivers of Mr. Mubarak’s ousting. It is also evident in various forms of pro-Morsi protest, including the jumping up and down while chanting, a typical way for militant soccer fans or ultras to support their club, and the waving of flags with a skull and crossbones emblem.

By the same token, Egypt’s deep polarization as well as the crisis in Egyptian soccer that was accelerated by last year’s deadly brawl in Port Said has not left the militant soccer fans untouched. While the ultras as organizations have refrained from joining the fray, many of their members and leaders have, reflecting the gamut of political views in their ranks.

Ironically, many Ultras White Knights, the fan group of storied Cairo club Al Zamalek SC, which traces its root to support of the monarchy that was toppled by a military coup in 1952 and replaced by Arab nationalist leader Gamal Abdel Nasser, an army colonel, who became the club’s president and brutally repressed the Brotherhood, have joined the pro-Morsi protests. The Black Bloc, the vigilante group that emerged last year to defend anti-Morsi protesters against both the security forces and Brotherhood attackers are believed to be siding with the police in the crackdown on the Brotherhood.

The UWK’s arch rivals, Ultras Ahlawy, the fan group of Al Ahli SC, historically the nationalist club, this week issued its first anti-Brotherhood statement. The statement ended the group’s silence with regard to the government while Mr. Morsi was in office. By refraining from attacking the government, the group had hoped that harsh verdicts would be served in the trial of those responsible for the deaths in Port Said. It got only partial satisfaction. While 21 supporters of Port Said’s Al Masri SC club were sentenced to death, seven of the nine security officials were acquitted.

“The ultras have become fascists. Like Egypt, they have collapsed. They have no values and no real beliefs,” said a former ultras leader who left his group in disgust at the political turn it had taken.

In a perverse way, the ultras’ dilemma is not dissimilar from that of the Brotherhood. Neither could decide what it really was. The Brotherhood has yet to make up its mind what it is: a social or a political movement. That decision may become easier if it survives the current crackdown and potentially emerges strong enough to negotiate terms of a political solution to Egypt’s crisis.

The ultras refused to acknowledge that they were as much about politics as they were about soccer. Their battle for freedom in the stadiums and their prominent role in the toppling of Mr. Mubarak, the opposition to the military rulers that succeeded him and the Morsi government made them political by definition. Yet, those who populated their rank and file were united in their support for their club and their deep-seated animosity towards the security forces but on nothing else.

The ultras’ fate could change if Egypt continues down the road it has embarked on of a restoration of Mr. Mubarak’s police state. Repression with little more than a democratic facade could again turn stadium into political battlefields against military and security force control whether overt or behind-the scenes; brutal and unaccountable security forces; and autocratic government masked by hollowed out democratic institutions.

“I’m afraid of the return of the military state. That is not what I fought for in the stadiums and on Tahrir Square. I’m also afraid of the Brotherhood. It’s a choice between two evils. If you ask me now, I’d opt for the military, but that could well change once this is all over,” the former ultra said.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies as Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of Würzburg and the author of the blog, The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer.

Egypt’s banning of soccer fans from matches likely to boomerang

March funeral of a Port Said Protester (Credit:AFP/Jonathan Rashad) 

By James M. Dorsey

Egyptian authorities have expanded the ban on fans attending matches to include international as well as domestic games in a bid to prevent violence that is likely to backfire and spark renewed incidents in a country that is reeling from economic decline, widespread discontent and lack of confidence in the government and law enforcement.

Sports minister Al-Emary Farouq announced the ban from international matches following incidents in African championship games involving crowned Cairo clubs Al Ahly and Al Zamwelek SC as well as Ismaili SC.

The ban is certain to upset militant, highly politicized, street battle-hardened fans or ultras divided over verdicts announced in January and last month in the trial against those responsible for the death last year of 74 Al Ahly fans in a politically loaded brawl in the Suez Canal city of Port Said, and opposed to the already existing barring of supporters from recently restarted domestic matches.

The fans are further upset that their demands have yet to be met for reform of the country’s security sector as well as the putting on trial of law enforcement officials involved in the killing of more than 900 people in the last two years since the toppling of president Hosni Mubarak.

Egypt’s Premier League was recently relaunched in the absence of fans after a suspension of a year in the wake of the Port Said incident that is widely viewed as an attempt that got out of hand by authorities to teach the ultras a lesson for their key role in Egypt’s popular revolt, sustained opposition to the military rulers who succeeded Mr. Mubarak and led the country to its first free and fair elections, and the growing perception that President Mohammed Morsi is more of an autocrat than a reformer.

The sentencing to death in January of 21 fans of Port Said’s Al Masri SC for their role in the worst incident in Egyptian sporting history sparked an uprising in the city that has long felt negelcted and disadvantaged by central governments in Cairo. Al Masri and Al Ahli fans agree however that the police and security forces were spared with the sentencing of only two of the nine officers that had been charged in the case, the first two security officials to have been accountable for the deaths of protesters since Mr. Mubarak’s downfall.

The ban against the backdrop of political volatility in which the ultras play a prominent role complicates a tough choice facing the militant fan groups as well as youth organizations who formed the backbone of Egypt’s popular uprising: at what point do they surrender the power of the street and contentious politics and transition into electoral politics and non-governmental lobbying and activism?

For now, the ban coupled with mounting resistance to Mr. Morsi because of his reliance on security forces and the military rather than outreach to his critics, his haughty style of government, a crackdown that last week culminated in the arrest and subsequent release on bail of the Arab world’s most prominent political satirist, a series of measures that curtail rather than enhance the role of civic society, and his unilateral rushing through of a controversial constitution that many see as serving an Islamist agenda has postponed the need to take a decision.

Mr.  Farouq, a former Ahli board member, justified the banning of fans from international matches saying that the recent incidents “put the safety of fans at risk and damaged public property” and was necessary “to protect sports facilities."

Zamalek fans earlier this month destroyed seats at the military-owned Borg El-Arab Stadium in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria, Ismaili supporters invaded the pitch and fought with police after a match against Algeria's USMA, and Ahly fans threw projectiles and damaged the stadium during a game against a Kenyan club.

The ban is in line with Mr. Morsi’s refusal to see the uprising in Port Said, street protests in Cairo and other Egyptian cities and the role of the ultras as a consequence of a government policy that has allowed the economy to slide to the point of Egypt teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, a deep-seated distrust of security forces because of their role as executors of the Mubarak-era repression and their continued brutality and that appears more intent on consolidating the power of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood than leading the transition from autocracy to a more open and free society.

The ban leaves the ultras with the street as their only potential stronghold in an environment in which reform seems as elusive as it appeared before soccer fans and youth groups discovered their real power on January 25, 2011, the first of 18 days of protests on Cairo’s Tahrir Square that forced Mr. Mubarak to resign after 30 years in office. That is a stronghold protesters are unlikely to surrender until they see real steps towards change, starting with the tackling of what is a difficult and complex task: reform of the security forces.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, director of the University of Würzburg’s Institute of Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog

Egyptian crackdown on soccer fans likely to unite militants

Members of the Black Bloc, a secretive group of black-clad soccer fans 

By James M. Dorsey

Egypt’s judiciary and security forces appear posed to crack down on militant, highly politicised and street battle-hardened soccer fans in a bid to exploit internal differences among them.

The crackdown however could boomerang by uniting rather than further dividing the fans in their opposition to the security forces, Egypt’s most hated institution because of its role in enforcing the repression of the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak.

The security forces and the judiciary hope to capitalize on cracks among the fans, one of Egypt’s largest civic groups, that have emerged beyond their traditional rivalries over who was responsible for the death last year of 74 supporters of crowned Cairo club Al Ahli SC in a politically loaded brawl in the Suez Canal city of Port Said and how to respond to recent sentences handed down by a court against those responsible.

The crackdown would likely reinforce the conviction of all fans that security forces allowed the brawl to happen, if they did not instigate it, in an attempt that got out of hand to punish them for their key role in the popular uprising that toppled Mr. Mubarak and their opposition to the military rulers that succeeded him.

President Mohammed Morsi, who last summer replaced the military as Egypt’s first freely elected leader, would risk another round of vicious street battles that in the past two years have cost the lives of more than 900 people and injured thousands by initiating the crackdown without embarking at the same time on far-reaching reform of the security sector.

The likelihood of resistance to the crackdown is heightened by the leaking this week of a report that concluded that security forces shot to kill protesters with the full knowledge of Mr. Mubarak during the uprising two years ago that forced him out of office; continued police brutality that highlights Mr. Morsi’s failure to reform the 1.7 million-strong police and security forces; discontent over the fact that of the nine security officials involved in the Port Said trial only two were convicted; and a six-week old revolt in the Suez Canal city that feels it has been made the scapegoat in Egypt’s worst sporting incident.

Al Ahli fans celebrated the sentencing to death in January of 21 supporters of Port Said’s Al Masri SC believing that they conspired with the security forces while Port Said charged that it was paying the price for a police action. The pereception of being made a scapegoate reinforced a pattern in the mind of Port Said resident of years of neglect of thei city by the central government in Cairo. The judiciary and the security forces also hope to benefit from divisions within Ultras Ahlawy, the Al Ahli support group, on whether the court verdict satisfied their demand for justice.

The ultras have nevertheless vowed to target the security forces until all of those responsible have been brought to justice. They torched last Saturday a police officers’ club and the offices of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) after the court announced the acquittal of 28 of the 73 defendants, including the seven security officials.

Militants in both Cairo and Port Said saw the acquittal as reaffirmation of the failure of Mr. Morsi and his military predecessors to hold any security officers accountable for the deaths of protesters in the past two years. The two convicted officers in the Port Said case were the first to be sentenced. The perception that the government is shielding the security forces is enhanced by the leaked report that among other things charged that police two years ago used snipers on rooftops overlooking Cairo's Tahrir Square to shoot into the huge crowd demanding Mr. Mubarak's’departure.

The report that summarizes the conclusions of a fact-finding mission initiated by Mr. Morsi could influence the upcoming retrial of Mr. Mubarak, former Interior Minister Habib el-Adly, and six top police commanders on charges of responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of protesters during the protests that toppled the Egyptian leader two years ago.

Messrs. Mubarak and el-Adly were convicted and sentenced to life in jail last June for failing to stop the killings, but the two successfully appealed their convictions. The six commanders- including the head of security in Cairo and the commander of the riot police - were acquitted. The prosecution appealed that verdict and a new trial of the eight is scheduled to start next month.

The judiciary and security forces appeared to be testing the waters with the arrest this week in the Nile Delta province of Menoufia of 38 alleged members of the Black Bloc, a secretive group of black-clad soccer fans founded to protect protesters from attacks by the security forces and supporters of Mr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood. The fans are accused of attempting to set fire to a provincial court house and insulting police officers, lawyers said.

The crackdown in the absence of security sector reform would harden the battle lines between the militant soccer fans and the police that have been drawn in four years of regular confrontation in the stadiums under Mr. Mubarak and in street battles since then. For many ultras as well as many Egyptians, the security forces have come to symbolize state repression that controlled and made their lives difficult not only on the pitch but in their daily lives. A recent human rights report charged that the security forces were a law unto themselves and that abuse and torture continued to be their standard practice.

Police brutality in Port Said earlier this year left scores of people dead and persuaded Mr. Morsi to last week replace security forces in the city with military troops. Sources close to Mr. Morsi argue that the president is seeking to gradually reform law enforcement but has been hampered by the need to restore law and order and protect government offices amid mounting protests in recent weeks sparked by the Port Said verdicts as well as growing criticism of his haughty style of government and charges that he is proving to be no less authoritarian than his predecessor.

Meanwhile, a series of recent strikes and walk-outs by police and security forces, some of which demanded the resignation of the interior minister, have on the one hand increased fear of a further breakdown of law and order, but on the other hand opened a door for security sector reform. The protests indicate significant support for change within the police and the security forces that were until now widely seen as implacably beholden to the former regime as well as opposed to Mr. Morsi’s brotherhood whom they suspect of trying to islamicize their ranks.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of Würzburg, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Rioting ultras and striking police officers may ease security reform

Ultras set Cairo police club on fire

By James M. Dorsey

The fall-out of last year’s death of 72 soccer fans in a politically-loaded stadium brawl has brought the need

for reform of Egypt’s Mubarak-era law enforcement and judiciary to a head with football supporters in Egyptian cities protesting the verdict in the trial of those accused of responsibility for the incident and security officials striking against being made a scapegoat in the country’s political crisis.

Protests sparked by this weekend’s confirmation of the death sentences of 21 Port Said soccer supporters, conviction of only two out of nine police officers accused of responsibility for the worst incident in Egyptian sport history, and aquittal of 28 of the in total 73 defendants reflect intensified public anger rooted in widespread distrust of the security forces as well as the judiciary’s failure to hold accountable officers and officials responsible for the death of more than 900 protesters since former president Hosni Mubarak was toppled two years ago.

The problems with law enforcement and the judiciary are compounded by the fact that Port Said-related demonstrations that are now in their second months have persuaded security forces to stage their own protests. Rank and file officers are speaking out publicly for the first time with walk-outs across the country and refusals to engage in crowd control.

Egypt’s 1.7 million-strong police and security forces, widely viewed as the repressive arm of Mr. Mubarak’s regime and largely unrepentant and unreformed since his departure, feel caught between the rock of President Mohamed Morsi’s insistence on cracking down on protests and the hard place of the public denouncing their brutality.

Reminiscent of scenes during the uprising two years ago in which the military refrained from cracking down on protesters demanding Mr. Mubarak’s ouster, striking police in Egypt’s second city Alexandria put up banners saying “We don't want politics" and "Police and the people are one hand."

The reminiscence of the military’s role in the 2011 uprising is however a double-edged sword. Protesters in Port Said welcomed the withdrawal of the security forces but criticized the military for not going beyond abstinence to protect them from the police in weeks of clashes that have cost scores of lives.

"Who cares about the police withdrawal? Our demands haven't been met. The army isn't protecting us. Have they done anything to meet our demands?" said Ibrahim El-Masri, a former Al-Masri player and spokesperson for the families of those sentenced to sentences.

The complexity of law enforcement’s dilemma and the difficulty of reforming its institutions is that they have operated for much of the past three decades without oversight employing a rank and file that had little education or training. In addition, there is little love lost between Mr. Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood and the security forces who often targeted the group in the days that it was clandestine or existed in a legal nether land. Striking policemen say they are also opposed to what they see as attempts by Mr. Morsi to infuse political Islam into their ranks.

The strikes and walk-outs in 10 of Egypt’s 29 provinces, some of which demanded the resignation of the interior minister, nevertheless open the door to security sector reform. They indicate significant support for change in institutions that were widely seen as implacably beholden to the former regime.

Sources close to Mr. Morsi argue that the president is seeking to reform law enforcement gradually but has been hampered by the need to restore law and order and protect government offices amid mounting protests.

Rival militant, highly politicized and street battle hardened soccer fans in Port Said as well as Cairo agree on little but that last year’s brawl was not spontaneous. Supporters of Al Masri as well as crowned Cairo club Al Ahli which counted 70 dead among their ranks in last year’s incident believe it was an effort that got out of hand to teach a less to fans who had played a key role in the toppling of Mr. Mubarak and were in the forefront of opposition to the military that led Egypt to elections last year that brought Mr. Morsi to power as well as the current demonstrations against the Morsi government.

As a result, this weekend’s failure to convict all nine officers coupled with the absence as of this writing of a justification of the court’s verdict has reaffirmed perceptions that law enforcement and the judiciary are political and constitute laws unto themselves.

At the same time, the verdict has sparked separate internal discussions among Al Masri and Al Ahli supporters on how best to respond .

Al Ahli fans feel on the one hand that justice has been served with the confirmation of the death sentences but one significant part of the group wants to maintain their attacks on the interior ministry, which controls the security forces, until officers are held fully accountable. That sentiment is fueled by the supporters’ years of confrontation with security forces in the stadiums and their perception of law enforcement as their arch enemy and the symbol of the former regime’s repression.

Ultras Ahlawy, the Al Ahli support group, denied reports on Saturday that they were responsible for fires in the offices of the Egyptian Footbaal Association (EFA) and Al Watan newspaper after it reported that they had met with the Muslim Brotherhood in advance of this weekend’s verdict. The ultras, who by and large, do not shirk taking responsibility for their actions, have attacked in past months media organisations they view as hostile. The ultras did admit however storming and setting on fire Saturday a police officers club near the Al Ahli grounds.

For their part, some Al Masri fans as well as segments of the 650,000-strong population of Port Said – a

Suez Canal city that feels it has been made a scapegoat in the trial – are placated by Mr. Morsi’s decision this week to pull the police out of the city and replace it with military troops. Soliders sided with demonstrators in Port Said in recent weeks. Some Al Masri supporters agitated however for forcing a closure of the Suez Canal, a key source of the cash-strapped Morsi government’s revenues. The military has warned that attacking the canal would cross a red line.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the Institute of Fan Culture of the University of Würzburg, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Soccer protests highlight Egyptian president Morsi’s fragile ties to the military

Port Said protesters help an injured solider (Source: Al Ahram)

By James M. Dorsey

A series of soccer protests in the past week in anticipation of a March 9 ruling in the politically loaded case of last year’s brawl in a Port Said stadium in which 74 fans died has focussed attention on the unaltered practices of the country’s Mubarak-era security forces as well as President Mohammed Morsi’s fragile relationship with the powerful military.

In a telltale statement on Facebook on Sunday, military spokesman Colonel Ahmed Ali denied reports that troops had clashed with police units in the Suez Canal city of Port Said on a day on which a demonstrator and a security officer were killed and more than 400 people injured in five week-old protests. Soccer protests in Cairo meanwhile blocked the road to the city’s international airport forcing visiting US Secretary of State John Kerry to delay his departure by two hours.

Colonel Ali said military units in Port Said where the protests expanded two weeks ago into a broad based civil disobedience campaign were guarding government buildings and installations and seeking to end clashes between the police and security forces.

Mr. Morsi declared emergency rule a month ago in Port Said and two other Suez Canal and Red Sea cities, Suez and Ismailia, and ordered the military to restore calm following protests in which security force killed more than 30 people in Port Said. Mr. Morsi’s decision was prompted by the inability of the interior ministry’s police and security forces, Egypt’s most reviled institutions because of their role as implementers of the repression of the regime of ousted president Hosni Mubarak, to restore law and order in Port Said.

In a repetition of events during the 18-day popular uprising in early 2011 that forced Mr. Mubarak to resign after 30 years in office, the military agreed to protect installations, including the crucial Suez Canal but refrained from cracking down on protesters who believe that their city has been made a scapegoat for failed government policy and has been historically marginalized. In fact, troops at times joined protesters defying the curfew in the city, prompting rumors that the military may seize power in a bid to restore a modicum of political stability.

The protests in Port Said as well as Cairo were sparked by an intial court sentencing to death on January 26 of 21 supporters of Port Said’s Al Masri sports club on charges of resposnibility for the death of the fans in last year’s brawl. The Cairo court is scheduled to pronounce judgement on March 9 in the case of another 52 defendants, who include nine mid-level security officials.

The court’s failure to pronounce judgement in its first round on the security officials fueled perceptions that police and security forces continue to be above the law. Opposotion forces, soccer fans and protesters have long demanded that those responsible for the death of more than 800 people since demonstrations erupted in January 2011 against Mr. Mubarak be held accountable. A human rights report charged earlier this year that security forces continue to arbitrarily arrest and torture people.

Rival militant, highly politicized, street-battle hardened soccer fans in Port Said and Cairo agree that last year’s deadly brawl in which 74 supporters of crowned Cairo club Al Ahli SC died at the end of a match against Al Masri was not spontaneous. Both groups as well as a broad swath of public opinion are convinced that the brawl was an effort that got out of hand to cut down to size the militants who had played a key role in the protests that toppled Mr. Mubarak and subsequent opposition to the military that led Egypt to last year’s election that brought Mr. Morsi to office.

Al Ahli supporters welcomed the sentencing of the Al Masri fans but demanded that those responsible for the brawl in the military and the security forces, including the former head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), General Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, also be held accountable. Soccer fan protests in Port Said against the verdict struck a deep cord in a city of 750,000 that has long felt that it has been marganilized despite its role as a frontier town in the decades of conflict with Israel and its contribution to the Egyptian economy.

Port Said residents last month in response to a call by the Green Eagles, the militant Al Masri fan group, attempted to make notarized statements at government offices demanding that confidence in the Morsi government be withdrawn. Officials refused to notarize the statements.

The strikes and protests in Port Said located at the tip of the strategic Suez Canal have rattled the Morsi government and are inspiring its opponents to adopt the city’s civil disobedience tactics. In doing so, they threaten to empower opposition forces that have been struggling to channel public anger at Mr. Morsi’s haughty style of government and his rushing through of a controversial constitution. Opposition forces have already said they would boycot parliamentary elections scheduled for April.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Port Said unites key Egyptian government critics: workers and soccer fans

(Source: Fox News)

By James M. Dorsey

Military troops are protecting factories and government offices on the fifth day of a general strike in the Suez Canal city of Port Said that has brought together two groups with working class roots that played key roles in the toppling of former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak: militant, highly politicized, street-battled hardened soccer fans and the labor movement.

Operating independently both groups constituted key centers of resistance to the repression of Mr. Mubarak’s regime during the years that preceded his downfall. The fans fought police and security forces in the stadiums in a battle for control of one of the country’s most crucial public spaces while workers in industrial towns like Mahalla organized strikes against Mr. Mubarak’s economic liberalization policy and corrupt and nepotistic privatization of state-owned assets.

Yet, it took perceptions of a majority of the population of Port Said, a city of 600,000 historically on the frontline of Egypt’s many past confrontations with Israel but nevertheless economically neglected, that even under the country’s first democratically elected president they continued to be a convenient scapegoat, to bring fans and workers together. In doing so, Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi has failed where Mr. Mubarak succeeded: keeping powerful critics divided. Some 20,000 workers have joined the protests and a five-day old general strike in Port Said, according to Egypt’s state-owned Middle East News Agency.

As a result, Mr. Morsi faces a serious challenge to his authority with protesters and strikers ignoring his declaration of emergency rule in the city and two other towns along the Suez Canal and the Red Sea, Suez and Ismailia that were focal points of anti-government demonstration. That defiance is likely to be fuelled in coming in weeks as Egypt anticipates a second round of verdicts on March 9 in the trial against 52 defendants who include officials of Port Said’s Al Masri soccer club as well nine mid-level police and security officials accused of responsibility for the death a year ago of 74 supporters of crowned Cairo club Al Ahly SC in a politically loaded brawl.

Mr. Morsi’s predicament is his own making even if he inherited the explosive political baggage embedded in the Port Said trial from the military that led Egypt’s from Mr. Mubarak fall to the Muslim Brother’s electoral victory. His failure to initiate crucial albeit difficult reform of the overriding symbol of the Mubarak regime’s repression, the police and security forces, is compounded by the fact that they remain a power onto themselves able to continue their Mubarak era practices of hard-handed management of public protests, arbitrary arrests and torture.

Adding insult to injury is the fact that police and security officials have yet to be held accountable for the deaths of more than 800 protesters since demonstrations against Mr. Mubarak first erupted in January 2011. 

Public anger has been further fuelled by the fact that none of the security and police officials in the Port Said trial were among the first batch of those convicted despite a prosecutor’s report that put equal blame on law enforcement and Al Masri fans as well as the fact that 32 protesters were killed in Port Said during protests on the day that the court announced the death sentences against the Al Masri supporters.

Mr. Morsi’s attempt this week to counter Port Said’s sense of being ignored with proposed legislation to reopen a lucrative free trade zone in the city and allocate some $60 million to economic development in Port Said, Suez and Ismailia was rejected by protesters as too little too late. The protesters say they are steadfast in their demand for justice for the protesters who were killed.

The deep-seated animosity towards the police and security forces is rooted in years of confrontation with fans in the stadiums in what amounted to a battle of control for public space and in factories where workers asserted their rights as well as in the fact that police and security officials were the ones that made life difficult in popular neighborhoods of Egyptian cities. The resulting popular anger may well have boiled over in Port Said on the day of the sentencing of the Al Masri fans with witnesses reporting that two policemen were the first to die on the city’s streets.

That notwithstanding, calm badly needed to halt Egypt’s economic slide and return it to economic growth, is unlikely to be restored as long as Mr. Morsi fails to initiate reform of the police and security forces, a major bastion of the former regime. The president’s failure to do so is compounded by his haughty style of government and his failure to consult opposition forces on controversial moves such as the rushing through of a constitution perceived by many as strengthening the hand of Islamists and potentially curbing fundamental freedoms.

The bringing together of workers and fans in a consorted protest against the Morsi government that has all but paralyzed Port Said heightens the risk that traffic through the Suez Canal, a major source of badly needed revenue for the government, could ultimately be affected. The protests have already prompted the evacuation of the Suez Canal authority’s headquarters as well as the closure of more than 20 factories that are now guarded by the military as fans, workers and government employees demand Mr. Morsi’s resignation. Protesters this week temporarily blocked the road leading to the entrance of the Canal. They were joined by workers of the Canal’s container terminal.

Militant soccer fans first reached out to the workers’ movement during protests a year ago in the wake of the Port Said brawl by acknowledging in a song that workers were among those who lost their lives in Egypt’s popular revolt. It never went however beyond the symbolic stretching out of a hand.

Port Said may well constitute the basis for real cooperation rather than symbolism. If so, Mr. Morsi will have not only paved the way for the emergence of an activist coalition that has got its feet wet not in using a computer to employ social media but in hard fought battles in which they have proven themselves as formidable, fearless opponents, but will have also further complicated his efforts to restore calm and open the door to economic development without embarking on real political, social and economic reform.

Said a leader of Ultras Ahlawy, the militant Al Ahli support group, in an interview with Egypt’s Al Ahram newspaper: "Our fight for justice is ongoing and will escalate until all members of the police or military who abused the Ultras are put on trial. We will not give up our rights that easily. We will escalate if needed, as was seen in our 26 January protests commemorating the second anniversary of the 25 January Revolution."

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Soccer fans defy emergency rule, force work stoppage in Port Said

Protesters block government offices (Source: Al Jazeera)

By James M. Dorsey

Thousands of militant soccer fans, in an indication that emergency rule will not squash mass protests, blocked government buildings as part of a general strike in the Suez Canal city of Port Said that is at the center of mounting anger at the brutality of police and security forces and demands that those responsible for the death of more than 800 protesters since mass demonstrations erupted in Egypt two years ago and toppled president Hosni Mubarak be held accountable.

The protest that forced the closure of the port authority and disrupted rail and telecommunications services constitutes a reaffirmation of a deep-seated sense among residents that Port Said is being made a scapegoat for at best the failure by law enforcement to prevent and at worst to have instigated a politically loaded soccer brawl a year ago in which 74 fans were killed.

By targeting the port authority but stopping short of seeking to close the Suez Canal, the fans signaled that they could strike where it hurts most: Egypt’s economy that has been in decline since the overthrow of Mr. Mubarak and constitutes one of President Mohammed Morsi’s foremost Achilles heels. In a victory for the protesters, Mr. Morsi shied away from enforcing the 30-day curfew in the city that he had declared in January.

Security forces brutally intervened last month killing some 40 people to squash protests against the sentencing to death of 21 members of the Green Eagles, the militant support group of Al Masri SC, Port Said’s football club, on charges of having been responsible for the brawl. In response to the protests in Port Said and elsewhere Mr. Morsi declared emergency rule in the city of 600,000 as well as in two other Suez Canal and Red Sea cities, Ismailia and Suez.

Tension is likely to build further in the walk-up to the expected verdict on March 9 in the case of 52 remaining defendants in the Port Said trial, who include club and mid-level security officials.

To prevent further protests and violence, Mr. Morsi would have to meet at least some of the militants demands and take convincing steps towards beginning a process of reform of the police and security forces, the most despised institutions in Egypt because of their role as the executors of the Mubarak regime’s repression, that has continued to employ hard-handed tactics since the Egyptian leader’s downfall.

The militants are demanding an independent investigation presided by a judge from outside Port Saud into the last month’s killing of protesters; the granting of the status of martyrs of the revolution to the dead which would entitle their families to government financial support and a renewed investigation of last year’s brawl, the worst incident in Egyptian sporting history.

The protests put Mr. Morsi in a bind. Any concession to the Green Eagles could provoke resistance from the militant supports of crowned Cairo club Al Ahli SC, who were the main victims in last year’s brawl. Al Ahli supporters celebrated the sentencing to death of the Green Eagle members, although they agree with their rivals that last year’s incident was not spontaneous and likely instigated by supporters of Mr. Mubarak and at least tolerated by the security forces.

Scores of employees of the provincial government, the judiciary, utilities and customs joined the protesters who gathered in front of government buildings on early Sunday morning, the first day of the work week.  

In a statement, the Green Eagles said "Port Said has always been treated unjustly over the years," a reference to a perception among city residents that they have always stood in the forefront of the country’s battles, including the various wars with Israel, but have been neglected over the years by the central government rather than rewarded.

"The city's revolt comes because of a deep sense of injustice," the statement said. It said that sense was strengthened by last month’s use of live ammunition against protesters.

"The officials have done nothing for us ... The presidency is not moving a finger," Mohammed Fouad, a representative of Port Said's business community, told Egypt’s privately-owned ONTV channel.

Opposition groups expressed support for the Port Said protests. The Popular Current group, one Egypt’s major opposition groups, described them as "part of the popular anger" against Mr. Morsi. "What is happening in Port Said is a legitimate right in the face of an authority that has adopted repression and tyranny," the group said in a statement.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Police refusal to secure Egyptian matches spotlights rift with military

President Morsi's litmus test: security sector reform

By James M. Dorsey

A refusal by Egyptian security forces to police soccer matches spotlights differences between the interior and defense ministries at a time that President Mohammed Morsi is under mounting pressure to reform the country’s law enforcement institutions, widely despised for their role as the enforcers of the repression of toppled president Hosni Mubarak’s regime and continued violations of human rights.

The rejection contrasts starkly with the military’s authorization last month of the restart of the Premier League that had been suspended for a year in the wake of the death of 74 soccer fans in a politically loaded soccer brawl. The military endorsed the resumption against the will of the interior ministry provided matches were played initially in military stadiums without spectators.

The importance of reform of law enforcement is highlighted by the fact that Mr. Mubarak like most Arab autocrats ran a police rather than a military state. The interior ministry’s police and security forces are with 1.25 million men more than twice the size of the military. Widely viewed as corrupt and brutal, they were responsible for domestic spying and surveillance, repression of expressions of discontent and the stealing of elections.

Moreover, the impact of the interior ministry’s continued opposition to the reinstitution of soccer has not only a political but also an economic impact at a time that Egypt’s economy is in decline. A study by Assiut University’s Gamal Mohammed Ali established that some four million Egyptians make their living directly or indirectly from soccer. Mr. Ali estimated that the one year suspension had cost clubs $178 million.

Crowned Cairo clubs Al Zamalek SC and Al Ahli SC had requested police security for two upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) Championship League matches. Zamalek made its request after securing military’s cost permission to play Gazelle FC of Chad on February 17 in the Mediterranean port city of Alexandria’s Borg El-Arab Stadium, Africa’s third largest facility designed and built by the Egyptian Armed Forces Corps of Engineers (EAFCE), with fans present. Al Ahli is scheduled to play its next CAF match in March.

Mr. Morsi’s failure to initiate the difficult process of reform of Mubarak era institutions, foremost among which law enforcement and the judiciary, is at the core of mass protests in the past month that have cost the life of more than 60 people. The president last month declared emergency rule in Port Said and two other Suez Canal and Red Sea cities, Suez and Ismailia, and ordered the military to enforce law and order after a Cairo court sentenced to death 21 of 73 defendants accused of responsibility for the Port Said brawl.

Mr. Morsi was elected as the candidate of the Freedom and Justic Party (FJP) established by the Muslim Brotherhood whose platform identified reform of the police and security forces as one of its key issues. The president initially seemed committed to the platform by replacing a number of senior police chiefs and intelligence officials, including Cairo Security Directorate chief Mohsen Murad and Central Security Forces (CSF) commander Emad al-Wakil, who were known for their opposition to Egypt’s transition.

Yet, Mr. Morsi weakened rather than strengthened his grip on the security sector by endorsing amendments to the police law that removed the president as head of the Supreme Council of the Police and further improved the administration of salaries and pensions in a bid to thwart discontent within the forces. His removal of pro-Mubarak commanders was counterbalanced by his appointment of General Khaled Tharwat as head of the recently established National Security Apparatus (NSA). Gen. Tharwat was in charge of the security forces’ domestic spying and surveillance as well as a unit dedicated to countering the Brotherhood under Mr. Mubarak.

To be fair discontent within the security forces reflects a sense within their ranks that police and security forces despite their brutality are as much a victim of the Mubarak regime as are others. Sources close to the security forces describe an institution that feels defeated and humiliated by public animosity and repeated verbal and physical attacks much like the Egyptian military defeat after its virtual 1967 destruction in the Six Day War against Israel.

“Many (officers) are in need of psychological rehabilitation. The revolution broke some of them, while others became more brutal and violent.... Both situations are equally bad,” said former Public Security major Tamer Makki, who is a member of the upper house of parliament in an interview with Omar Ashour, a nonresident fellow at the Brookings Doha Center, Director of the University of Exeter’s Middle East Graduate Studies Program, and the author of a recent report on the Egyptian security sector.

Law enforcement is set to again become a flashpoint on March 9 when the court rules in the case of the remaining 52 accused, who include nine mid-level security officials. The sentencing of the 21, all supporters of Port Said’s Al Masri SC, sparked the violent protests in part because security officials were not included in the first batch of verdicts. The court’s delay of the sentencing of security officials fuelled public anger at the fact that no official has to date been held accountable for the death of more than 800 protesters since the initial mass demonstrations that forced Mr. Mubarak to resign after 30 years in office.

The pressure for reform of the police and security forces was further fuelled by the leaking of the summary of the prosecutor’s case in the trial that charged that the police were as culpable as Al Masri fans and executives in the lethal Port Said brawl. The leak coincided with a human rights report that concluded that concluded that “the Egyptian police continue to systematically deploy violence and torture, and at times even kill. Although the January (2011) revolution (against Mr. Mubarak) was sparked in large part by police practices and vocally demanded an end to these practices, accountability for all offenders and the establishment of permanent instruments to prevent their recurrence, two years after the revolution the situation remains unchanged.”

At a recent meeting with human rights activists, Justice Minister Ahmed Mekki denied the allegations and insisted that it was the interior ministry’s internal responsibility to reform its forces. One participant said on Twitter after the meeting that Mr. Mekki’s remarks were “far worse’ than anything he had from Mr. Mubarak’s justice minister.

Amid political volatility and a growing belief among Egypt’s youth and militant soccer fan groups, one of the country’s largest civic groupings after the Muslim Brotherhood, that it will take street rather than electoral politics to ensure real post-revolt change, reform of the security sector could emerge as Mr. Morsi’s make-or-break litmus test.

The president is caught in a Catch-22. Street protests and repeated attacks on his presidential palace coupled with the emergence of vigilante groups associated with various political trends makes him more dependent on the security sector – the very force that constitutes his Achilles heel.

Says Mr. Ashour in his report: “Ultimately, no democratic transition is complete without targeting abuse, eradicating torture, and ending the impunity of the security services, with effective and meaningful civilian control of both the armedforces and the security establishment. This will bethe true test of both Morsi’s presidency and Egypt’s democratic transition.”

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Egypt league to restart amid protests and finger pointing of police

Mass soccer protests

By James M. Dorsey

Egypt’s premier soccer league is scheduled to resume this weekend for the first time in a year amid concern about security against the backdrop of violent anti-government protests and the leaking of a court report that holds the police as well as fans responsible for last year’s death of 74 people in a politically loaded brawl in the Suez Canal city of Port Said.

With matches initially scheduled to be played behind closed doors in military stadiums, security concerns are fuelled by the deaths of at least 60 people in anti-government protests in the last week, militant fan opposition to resumption of the league and the exclusion of spectators from the matches,  and criticism of the Egyptian Football Association’s (EFA) failure to upgrade stadium security.

The leaking of a 200-page summary of the prosecution’s case obtained by McClatchy Newspapers in the trial against 73 defendants, including nine mid-level security officials, who are accused of responsibility for the death of 74 soccer fans in Port Said is certain to fuel demands by militant soccer fans that the league only be resumed once justice has been served.

The initial sentencing to death a week ago of 21 supporters of Port Said’s Al Masri Sports Club sparked violent protests in the city that left 32 people dead and some 300 wounded. The court, which did not publish the reasoning for its verdict, said it would announce its verdict in the case of the remaining 52 defendants, including the security officials, on March 9.

President Mohammed Morsi declared a 30-day emergency rule in Port Said and two other Suez Canal and Red Sea cities – Suez and Ismailia – and ordered the military to intervene to restore order.

The postponement of the sentencing of the security officials coupled with the leaked report reinforce perceptions that the government of Mr. Morsi like its military predecessor is reluctant to hold the country’s despised police and security force responsible for the deaths of more than 800 protesters since mass protests erupted two years ago, forcing President Hosni Mubarak to resign after 30 years in office.

Despite their arch rivalry, supporters of Al Masri and crowned Cairo club Al Ahly SC, many of whom died in the Port Said brawl, the worst incident in Egyptian sports history, agree that the brawl at the end of a match between the two was planned rather than spontaneous.

The incident is widely seen as an attempt to punish militant, highly politicized, well organized and street battle-hardened soccer fans for their key role in the toppling of Mr. Mubarak and their opposition to the military government that succeeded him and paved the way for the election of Mr. Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The leaked prosecutor’s report, according to McClatchy, asserts that the police as well as Al Masri fans were responsible for the deaths of the Al Ahli fans. In doing so it is likely to increase a sense in Port Said that it is being made a scapegoat despite the fact that Al Masri militants or ultras had also joined the protests that ended the Mubarak era.

It will also strengthen calls for reform of the police and security forces who were the repressive arm of the Mubarak regime and are since Mr. Mubarak’s fall a law unto themselves, according to a human rights report published last month.

The report said that police had failed to check fans entering the Port Said stadium for weapons on the day of the fatal match. It said that several Al Masri fans told investigators they’d noticed that one of the gates had been welded shut when they entered the stadium. They also thought it strange that no one was searching people for weapons.

Lax security fits the pattern of the time of police and security forces largely abstaining from enforcing security to avoid street confrontations in a bid to polish their bruised image and demonstrate that Egypt would sink into anarchy and chaos without them.

Similarly, police and security had failed to prepare for potential unrest last Saturday, the day of the sentencing of the Al Masri fans, despite predictions that the verdict was certain to spark violence in either Port Said or Cairo depending on which of the two cities’ militant soccer fans would be angry at the verdict.

More ominously in the case of Port Said, the prosecutor’s report said that the stadium’s gates had been sealed during the brawl, trapping fans, who either died pressed against the welded-closed entrances or who were hurled to their deaths from their upper deck seats. It said further that the stadium’s lights were turned off when the fighting began allegedly at the behest of an Al Masri leader.  

The report contrasted lax security at the match with the fact that the animosity between Al Masri and Al Ahli had prompted police under Mr. Mubarak to escort fans from Cairo on their way in and out of Port Said and to search spectators before they entered the stadium to watch a match between the two.

The report – based on interviews with fans of both teams, reporters at the game, stadium lighting experts and police, as well as autopsy reports and videos – suggests that the Port Said brawl was planned at a meeting two days before the match of a support group called Super Green that was sanctioned by the club. The meeting was attended by some of the 21 fans sentenced to death, the report said. Militants or ultras frequently meet in advance of a match to plan their support for a team during a match.

It noted further that militants of both Al Masri and Al Ahli had issued threats on social media in advance of the fatal match. “Port Said is waiting for you with knives and pistols,” one of the messages read, according to the report. “If you are coming to Port Said, write your mother a will because you will die for sure,” read another.

The report said that the Super Green meeting was designed to plan an attack on Al Ahli fans. It said the meeting was headed Mohammed Adel Mohammed, a 21-year old ultra known by his nickname,  Hummus. Hummus is among those now on death row and has become the symbol of the Port Said protests with calls for his release are painted on the exterior of Port Said’s stadium.

“Defendants premeditated the killing of some of the Ahly club fans (ultras) to retaliate for previous disputes between them and to show off their strength. For this purpose, they used weapons (knives and sticks) and explosive materials, such as flames, and rocks and other items to assault people,” the report said.

It said Al Masiy ultras began ambushing the Al Ahli team at its hotel even before the match with rocks and insults. The taunting continued at the stadium with several Al Masri fans changing their clothes and weapons throughout the day to make it harder to identify them in security video. Throughout, Port Said police “didn’t interfere in any way, which was seen on the videos,” the report said.

As the matched ended with an unexpected 3:1 Al Masri victory, Al Masri ultras, made their way toward the seating section reserved for al Ahli fans, it said. They threw Molotov cocktails and began attacking the al Ahli partisans with bricks and chairs.

“Al Mando was seen taking a blade from his mouth on video,” the report said, referring to an ultra by his nickname. Hummus admitted to investigators that he had thrown rocks at Al Ahly fans, the prosecution said. Others told the prosecution that they saw him also carrying Molotov cocktails, knives and sticks.

Hummus’ father, Adel Mohammed, asserted that his son had left the game before the stampede began and that his motives were innocent. He said Hummus’ confession had been coerced, according to McClatchy.

A police officer, known as Defendant 70, had the keys to all the gates but couldn’t be found when the stampede began, the report said, asserting that he offered different explanations for his disappearance. At one point, he said he didn’t unlock the gate at the request of Defendant 64, another officer. He told someone else the crowds were too big for him to confront. For his part, Defendant 64 said he never gave such orders and couldn’t find his fellow officer when the attack began, the report said.

“The prosecution found the keys with (Defendant 70) during the investigation. He said that he is the one who locked the doors, and he kept the keys with him until he handed them in to the prosecution. The prosecution made sure of that by trying the keys on the locks on Gates 2 and 3 and they opened the locks,” the report said.

This weekend’s resumption of soccer for the first time since the Port Said incident a year ago could hardly occur under less propitious circumstances. In addition to the prosecutor’s report putting the police even more in the firing line, analysts question whether security is sufficient to prevent a similar incident from happening again even though military stadiums are believed to be the most secure in Egypt.

The interior ministry, which controls the police and security forces, opposed the resumption of the league for much of the past year as long as a series of measures and upgrades in the stadiums had not been completed. Most of those recommendations have yet to be implemented by the EFA. “The haphazard attempts to resume the league, with or without fans, will lead to serious problems and maybe more victims,” sports critic Alaa Sadek told Al Ahram Online.

James M. Dorsey is a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, co-director of the University of Wuerzburg’s Institute for Fan Culture, and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog.

Bradley fighting to give fractured Egypt World Cup hope (JMD quoted on ESPN FC)

Bradley fighting to give fractured Egypt World Cup hope

Posted by Jeff Carlisle

ESPN FC

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Bob Bradley says he's been asked a thousand times whether he will stay on as coach of Egypt's national team, and the reasons don't have to do with wins and losses. The country has been racked by political turmoil for more than a year. Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the Port Said disaster, when rioting at a match between rivals Al-Masry and Al-Ahly resulted in the deaths of 72 Al-Ahly fans. Just last weekend, violence claimed at least 40 more lives in Port Said, Al-Masry's home city, after 21 Al-Masry supporters were sentenced to death for storming the field last year.

Yet Bradley's response is always the same.

"You try to just say, 'Look, you have to understand that in this difficult period, this is an opportunity, and these players deserve this chance, and that’s what we’re going to focus on,” he said. "People appreciate that."

-- Hasan: Egyptian military presses to play on
-- Carlisle: Bradley on Port Said emotions

That’s not all. Since arriving in Egypt, Bradley has made gestures big and small that have resonated with the country. He hasn’t shied from commenting on the political situation, which is in stark contrast to the silence that came from national team players and former coaches when former President Hosni Mubarak, the team’s longtime patron, was removed from power.

Karim Jaafar/AFP/Getty ImagesBob Bradley is trying to prepare his Egyptian team for their next World Cup qualifying match against Zimbabwe March 22.

Bradley, the former U.S. coach, has also been visible in smaller settings. Following a tragic accident in the city of Assiut in November that involved a train and a school bus that killed 51 people, mostly children, Bradley joined a delegation from the Egypt Ministry of Sport that visited families who lost loved ones.

“Bradley showed that he knows what’s going on, and that he cares,” said James M. Dorsey, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies and the author of The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer blog. “And he’s reached out to people. That’s not something that Egyptians are used to. On the other hand, it’s a country where emotions count. And for a foreigner to do that is something that people respond to, and it gives him a lot of street credit.”

Yet Bradley’s primary task remains unchanged -- leading Egypt to its first World Cup since 1990. And despite leading the Pharaohs to the top of their qualifying group after two games, the undertaking has become more daunting. In the wake of the Port Said disaster, the entire board of the Egypt Football Federation was replaced. In a country where the direct approach to getting things done isn't always effective, this has made the administrative aspects of Bradley’s job more difficult.

Fortunately, on the field, progress is being made.

“We’ve gotten to know guys, they’ve gotten to know us,” Bradley said via telephone. “There’s been a great response and there’s been a real belief within the group that we can get to the World Cup. That’s what drives us, that’s what motivates us; it’s this feeling and belief that together we can do something in this really difficult period that’s special."

That doesn’t mean the on-field aspect of the job has been free of complications. As a consequence of the Port Said disaster, the entire Egyptian league has been shut down for the past year, in part due to security concerns but also because the Ultras Ahlawy -- hard-core fans of Cairo-based Al-Ahly -- felt the league shouldn’t resume until justice was done for the fans who died. The league is finally set to resume this weekend in closed stadiums, but Dorsey feels that the relationship between fans and players continues to simmer.

“The Ultras view themselves as the real owners and only loyal group to the club,” he said. “They view the players to a degree as mercenaries. They’re there to get paid and if they get a better offer, they’re off, so there’s a built-in tension in that relationship.”

The lack of league matches has made maintaining match sharpness for the domestic players nearly impossible, and with no revenue coming in, those players have not been paid for the past six to nine months. Bradley has tried to compensate by scheduling training camps and friendlies as often as possible. At least then his players could earn modest amounts while in camp, but even that approach has had its challenges. Two games in September were canceled, and Bradley had to release the players he assembled. But other gatherings have been more successful. Even if the full squad hasn't been available, these get-togethers have helped forge a bond within the team.

“The opportunity to be in a national team camp where we're training and we have this collective dream of going to the World Cup, this is what you breathe, this is what you have, this is what you count on during that period because there’s not much else,” Bradley said.

He’s also done what he could to place players with clubs in Europe. Budding star Mohamed Salah signed on with FC Basel in the fall. Defender Okka is now at Belgian side Lierse, while English side Hull City just picked up Ahmed Fathy and Gedo. Of course, it helps that both Lierse and Hull City have Egyptian owners. Not every player is so lucky.

Yet incredibly, Egypt has managed to get the results it has needed. The Pharaohs defeated Mozambique 2-0 in Alexandria. That match was played in an empty stadium due to penalties imposed as a result of crowd trouble during 2010 World Cup qualifying. Bradley summed up that experience as a “weird feeling.” Egypt then earned a dramatic 3-2 away victory over Guinea thanks to Salah's stoppage-time winner.

“That is where [the players] deserve incredible credit,” Bradley added. “That’s where you feel like together we’ve created a trust that we can do this.”

Egypt’s next World Cup qualifier is next month against Zimbabwe in Alexandria, this time in front of actual home fans. There’s little margin for error, however -- only the group winner goes to the next round, so the tests for Bradley will keep coming.

“Every day you figure out how to approach this, and you use everything in your playbook to get things done,” he said. “To know when to push, to know when to encourage, to know when to yell, and you hope little by little that you’ll get people who can help when you really need it.”

Given the impression Bradley has made, he’ll likely have the entire country behind him.