Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Monday, February 4, 2013
Match fixing scandal could be monkey wrench to change soccer governance
Wilson Raj Perumal stands trial in Finland (Source: YLE/Jan Pelkonen)
By James M. Dorsey
A Singaporean national at the core of a global soccer match-fixing scandal provided key information that led to this week’s disclosure by Europol that it suspects that as many as 680 games on four continents were fixed by Asian crime syndicates and their European helpers.
Convicted in Finland in 2011 on match fixing charges and subsequently extradited to Hungary, one of several European countries where he is wanted, Wilson Raj Perumal, a 47-year old engineer of Tamil origin, agreed to map out the syndicates’ global operations in exchange for protective custody. "I hold the key to the Pandora's box. And I will not hesitate to unlock it," he said in one of a series of letters to Singapore’s The New Paper.
Mr. Perumal’s revelations and Europol’s disclosure add to a series of corruption scandals that have rocked world soccer in the last two years. The seriousness of the investigation into match-fixing is likely to contrast starkly with efforts by world soccer body FIFA and many of its constituent regional associations to root out corruption.
Those efforts have largely only skimmed the surface even though they led to the inevitable resignation or banning from involvement in soccer of several executive committee members, including Asian Football Confederation (AFC) president Mohammed Bin Hammam. They have yet to address an environment of backroom, back-slapping, non-transparent soccer politics that have spurred widespread perceptions of corruption.
Fan outrage over the match fixing scandal potentially could change that. FIFA has so far been under little, if any, fan pressure to introduce radical reforms. As a result, its major corporate sponsors politely expressed concern when the scandals first erupted in late 2010 and 2011 but did little to encourage FIFA to truly mend its ways. Europol’s disclosure of the extent of match fixing that may have even effected English championship games and European qualifiers could spark grassroots protests.
Indeed, in seeking protective custody from his former associates whom he had short changed to pay off gambling debts reportedly to the tune of $3 million, Mr. Perumal, believed to have been one of the smoothest operators of the match fixing scheme, may have provided the monkey wrench needed to fundamentally change governance of the beautiful game.
His operations did not simply involve the buying of corrupt players and referees but in increasingly also whole soccer associations, particularly cash-starved ones in Africa eager to play all-expenses paid friendlies. In the process, Mr. Perumal and his associates generated hundreds of millions of dollars in fraudulent gambling winnings for Asian and European syndicates in a global business that grew exponentially with television and the Internet.
FIFA investigators say Mr. Perumal perfected his approach of associations in addition to individuals in the late 1990s in Africa in countries like Ghana and Zimbabwe. He projected himself as a promoter acting on behalf of front companies that arranged friendly matches. "Most football associations are broke. When you go up to them with an opponent who is prepared to ... play a friendly, they welcome you with open arms. They don't realize what is hidden beneath," he said in one of his letters to The New Paper.
Mr. Perumal’s downfall was a friendly between Bahrain and Togo in 2011 when it became apparent that Togo had fielded a fake team that surprisingly defeated the Gulf squad 3:0. The key to unravelling what had happened in Bahrain was the revelation by a Bahraini soccer official that the match had been arranged by a Singapore-based, FIFA-approved agent.
In effect however, the beginning of Mr. Perumal’s end preceded the match in Bahrain. A petty criminal with a long charge list involving housebreaking, theft, forgery, cheating and match-fixing, he fled Singapore for a Tamil community near London’s Wembley Station to evade serving five years in prison for running over a policeman in 2009.
Authorities finally caught up with him when he was stopped at an airport in Finland in 2011 as he was attempting to leave the country on a false passport acting on a tip of one of his associates. With Mr. Perumal spilling the beans to save his own neck and take revenge on those he feels betrayed him, the syndicates appear to have made a fatal mistake in fingering him in the belief that he would not share his knowledge in a bid to save his life.
The decision to out Mr. Perumal was prompted by complaints to the syndicate by a Finnish local club, Rovaniemi, that it had been paid less than the agreed $500,000 for its acquisition by associates of the crime group. Mr. Perumal had pocketed up to $300,000 of the sales price to pay off some of his gambling debts. By that time, syndicate bosses already suspected that Mr. Perumal’s loyalties may have been divided.
They assumed that he may have tipped off FIFA about the fixing of two matches in the Turkish Mediterranean Sea resort of Antalya – Latvia against Bolivia and Estonia against Bulgaria. More likely is that lack of caution by one of Mr. Perumal’s associates, Anthony Santia Raj, prompted the Latvian soccer federation to voice concern with FIFA.
In response then FIFA security chief Chris Eaton turned to London-based gambling watchdog Sportradar for help. Sportradar’s analysis of the betting pattern for both matches left little doubt that they had been fixed.
Mr. Perumal’s explanation of his demise is a very different one. He blames those he recruited and trained in Singapore, a perfect multi-cultural recruitment ground for Chinese syndicates looking for English speaking operatives who can easily blend in various parts of the world, for seeking to take over his position in what he describes as a cut-throat business. “I would have admired my enemy if he had brought the sword to my heart instead of my back,” he said in one of his letters to The New Press.
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.
Sports Lawyers Association -- Networking Event in Boston
The Sports Lawyers Association and Ropes & Gray cordially invite you to attend the following Boston outreach event:O’Bannon & The Future of the NCAA
Monday, February 11, 2013
6:00 pm: CLE Program
7:00 pm: Networking Reception
In July 2009, attorneys for former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon filed O’Bannon v. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The lawsuit raised important questions about the commercialization of college athletics and student-athletes’ rights to publicity and compensation. Meanwhile, in October 2012, the NCAA unveiled a new enforcement structure featuring harsher penalties and increased accountability for rules violations. The changes reflected the NCAA’s renewed commitment to preserving amateurism in college athletics. The conflicting viewpoints underlying the two actions will soon come to a head as O’Bannon winds through the courts. Recent rulings suggest potentially radical changes in college athletics that could redefine amateurism and the role of the NCAA itself.
This program will discuss the evolution of the current environment and what recent developments in O’Bannon might mean for the future of the NCAA. Discussion will touch upon numerous topics, including the mechanics of the new NCAA enforcement structure, the landmark cases that led to O’Bannon, recent rulings in that case and what NCAA enforcement may look like in the near and distant future.
Featured Presenters:
Dennis M. Coleman, Partner, Ropes & Gray; Chair, Ropes & Gray Sports Law Practice Group
Warren K. Zola, Assistant Dean for Graduate Programs & Adjunct Assoc, Professor, Boston College Carroll School of Management; Chair, Boston College Professional Sports Counseling Panel
David W. Mindell, Associate, Ropes & Gray
Ropes & Gray LLP
800 Boylston Street
Boston, MA 02199
Please RSVP to RGEvents@ropesgray.com by Thursday, February 7
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Fan Culture – a social and political indicator
Beitar Jerusalem fans protest the hiring of Muslim players (Source: Reuters)
By James M. Dorsey
Remarks at 2. Colloquium of the Institute of Fan Culture, University of Wuerzburg, January 11-12, 2013
The past year has been one of repeated incidents of racism on the pitch. The question I asked myself was what could be gleaned from comparing last year’s shouting of racist slogans in Serbia during the Under-21 match between Serbia and England, and attacks by rabid Beitar Jerusalem supporters against Palestinians in a Jerusalem mall and Jews advocating compromise with the Palestinians.
Those familiar with Serbian football are likely to argue that there is no reason to be surprised at the incident. Serbian fan culture has always been highly nationalistic and had a racist element. It always has been violent. As far back as World War Two, Serb fans were believed to have supported the Nazis. And in the 1990s they formed key elements of Milosevic’s paramilitaries. In 2005, they raised banners supporting the slaughter in Srebenica during a World Cup qualifier against Bosnia.
Similarly, Beitar Jerusalem fans have always been known for their rabid hatred of the Arabs and Palestinians. The one thing that has never been clear however is who they hated more the Palestinians or the Ashkenazi Jews. Beitar Jerusalem is the only major Israeli club that has never hired a Palestinian player even though Palestinians rank among Israel’s top players. Beitar’s matches are characterized by racist anti-Arab and anti-Muslim slogans. In recent months, Beitar fans attacked a Jerusalem mall, singling out Palestinian shoppers, They also attacked a Jewish female musician on a street who expressed disagreement with their racism and violence and more recently vowed to keep their club “pure” in response to the hiring of two Chechen Muslim players.
Violence and racism is so endemic to Serbian and Israeli soccer that the Serbian interior ministry and the Israeli Football Association (IFA) have separate units to combat hooliganism and racism. In fact, the Israeli association is the only one in the Middle East and North Africa that wages an anti-racist campaign even if one can question whether it does so wholeheartedly and effectively. By contrast with Israel, the Serbian prime minister refused to acknowledge that last year’s incident was racist and the federation refused to investigate the incident. The federation’s attitude also contrasts starkly with the approaches of UEFA and the English FA towards racism and tarnishes Serbian efforts to join the EU.
So if the Serbians and the Beitarniks are fan groups with long-standing traditions and attitudes, what do the most recent incidents tell us about whether there is anything new and if so what?
In fact, they do tell us something, namely that they are one indicator of what does and does not change in society. Serbian prime minister Ivica Dacic’s attitude tells us that 13 years after the overthrow of Milosovic and his ruinous Serbian nationalism, Serbia has yet to seriously tackle intolerance and racism. In a broader context, last year’s incident at the Under-21 championship in Krusevac is part of the rise of a far-right in Europe that is anti-immigrant and anti-foreigner at a time of severe economic difficulty.
Similarly, the Israeli fans’ violence was at closer examination very telling. Beitar Jerusalem was taking its battles out of the stadium at a time that more than four decades of occupation of Palestinian land and perceived Palestinian ability to produce a viable partner in peace has hid a brutalizing effect on Israeli society. The violence also serves as in indicator of a greater degree of intolerance as well as a shift to the right of Israeli public opinion despite the emergence of a center-left political party – albeit one that refuses to work with Palestinian members of the Israeli parliament -- in this month’s Israeli election. That shift is symbolized by the attack of an elderly Jewish musician just because her views were more liberal than theirs.
There is of course a third major intersection of fan activism and politics these days. As we speak here, ultras are part of mounting protests against the government of Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi in the wake of the sentencing of 21 soccer fans in the trial of those allegedly responsible for the death a year ago of 74 fans in the Suez Canal city of Port Said in a politically loaded brawl.
And there is something else that these three case studies have in common that is I believe relevant to why we are here today. All three help us establish some definitions based on the work of Melissa M. Brough and Sangita Shresthova[1]:
1
1. We are looking at groups of people who assert their identity through popular culture – in this case soccer, but it could also be music or video. This assertion is active and often creative in its production of various forms of popular culture. Think of ultras music, graffiti and videos.
2. What sets the groups I look at further apart from other fan groups is their social and political activism defined as intentional action to challenge existing hegemonies and provoke political and/or social change.
3. Increasingly socially aware, politically engaged fan groups often are engines of movements that go far beyond the confines of what they are fans of – think of the very distinct political roles of fans in the creation of the gay movement in the 1950s or fans of Joss Whedon and the canceled TV show Firefly who continue to gather every year to organize "Can't Stop the Serenity," a fund-raiser for the women's rights and advocacy organization Equality Now.
4. A further commonality is that what politicized these groups or at the very least turned them into political actors were either societal trends that increasingly became intolerable or an event including for example confrontation with law enforcement. However I would suggest that as we move forward we don’t ignore efforts to turn enamor with a product of popular culture into civic action. One example of this is the Harry Potter Alliance (HPA), a US-based nonprofit organization that works "for human rights, equality, and a better world just as Harry and his friends did." The group is inspired by Dumbledore's Army in the Harry Potter narratives. The alliance builds on active and creative engagement with the Harry Potter world by connecting its figures to goals of social justice such as fair trade and marriage equality.
5. Fandom turns political when it is employed as a tool of resistance or change as in the case of the Egyptian ultras, the Harry Potter Alliance, and the push to assert identity, nationhood or further statehood as in the case of the Palestinians, the Kurds, Kosovo and northern Cyprus just to mention a few . It is worth noting in this context that hitherto social movement theory has rarely been applied to the analysis of fandom. The importance of doing so is highlighted by the role of ultras in the Arab revolts and the fact that for example the ultras in Egypt constitute the second largest civic group after the ruling Muslim Brotherhood.
6. The role of law enforcement and security is often key in the politicization and radicalization of fans. Much of the post-Mubarak violence stems from clashes between the militants and security forces. Their battle is a battle for karama or dignity. Their dignity is vested in their ability to stand up to the dakhliya or interior ministry, the knowledge that they no longer can be abused by security forces without recourse and the fact that they no longer have to pay off each and every policemen to stay out of trouble.
That dignity is unlikely to be fully restored until the police and security forces have been reformed – a task Mr. Morsi’s government has so far largely shied away from. Official foot-dragging in holding security officers accountable as in the case of Port Said and the deaths of hundreds of protesters in the last two years reinforces the perception of the police and security forces as an institution that in the words of scholars Eduardo P. Archetti and Romero Amilcar[2]is “exclusively destined to harm, wound, injure, or, in some cases, kill other persons.” It gives “police power…the aura of omnipotence” who “at the same time lost all legitimacy both in moral and social terms… To resist and to attack the police force is thus seen as morally justified,” they argue.
7. Finally, this situation gives rise to the question whether all militant, violence-prone fans are hooligans. I would argue no. Israeli and Serb fans live today in societies with multiple options to express themselves and highlight their concerns and discontent. By contrast, Egyptian ultras as well as fans in for example Algeria or Iran, even if violence-prone are a perfect example of what Messrs Archetti and Amilcar argue. Egypt’s police and security force existed not to serve the people, but to brutally enforce the regime’s repression. Egyptians encountered their brutality not just in the stadiums but daily in the popular neighborhoods. Even if I favor a distinction between hooligans and militants, the North African ultras’ self-definition comes closest to the controversial view of Marxist scholars such as Ian Taylor and John Clarke who argued that British hooligans were the product of unemployment and urban decay, a “subcultural agent” that had been abandoned by his parents, government and his soccer club management.
All of this is food for thought, a first stab at conceptualization, an effort to spark a discussion that is long overdue.
Thank you.
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.
[1]Melissa M. Brough and Sangita Shresthova, Fandom meets activism: Rethinking civic and political participation, Transformative Works and Culture, Vol 10, 2012, http://journal.transformativeworks.org/index.php/twc/article/view/303/265
[2]Eduardo P. Archetti and Romero G. Amilcar, Death and Violence in Argentinian Football, in Football, Violence and Social Identity edited by Richard Guillianotti, London, Routledge, 2012, page 48
Intention Safety = Infield Fly?
One of the non-baseball plays often suggested to me in discussions of the Infield Fly Rule (and why the Rule is not necessary) is the intentional safety late in the game. Like the infield fly, the argument goes, a team is intentionally not doing what we ordinarily expect it to do--here, running sideways or backwards and intentionally surrendering points. So should this play, which helped clinch Super Bowl XLVII for the Ravens, be banned, just like the dropped infield fly?
Under my model (introduced here and being refined in a current work-in-progress), three features define a sports situation as so out-of-balance as to warrant a special limiting rule: 1) Negative incentives for a team to intentionally not do what we expect under ordinary rules and strategies; 2) total control over the play resting with one team and leaves the other helpless to counter the play; and 3) overwhelming cost-benefit disparity, with substantial benefits in favor of the controlling team and substantial costs imposed on (and absolutely no benefits received by) the opponent. Applying that standard, the intentional safety is not like the infield fly and should not be banned or limited.
One thing to keep in mind about football (distinct from baseball) is that there are several moving parts--teams not only worry about scoring and gaining maximum yardage on a play, but also about field position, sets of downs, and time. So football teams regularly make small cost-benefit trade-offs, intentionally failing to seek maximum yardage on a play in exchange for time off the clock. On the play in question, the Ravens incurred a cost--two points, meaning a field goal could tie the game, and they still have to kick the ball away--in exchange for the benefits of eight seconds off the clock and a more advantageous punting position (twenty yards upfield and no rush). The Niners, in turn, experienced both of those in reverse. The Niners also were not helpless or out of control on the play--although they could not stop the safety, they could have anticipated the play better, brought more pressure, and not allowed as much time to run off the clock (although there was a pretty blatant offensive hold on the play*). The Niners also benefited by getting the ball back (with more than four seconds if they had played it better) and an opportunity to make a counter-play--a run back on the kick, Hail Mary pass, or (as Jim Nantz discussed) the fair-catch kick, had the Ravens punter shanked the free kick. So the second and third features are clearly absent on this play. This looks like just one more example of teams exchanging small costs for small (but, it hopes, slightly greater) benefits.
This calculus would change if the safety occurred on the final play of the game (say, where the play starts with :01 on the clock). The play now contains all three features--there is a far greater cost-benefit imbalance, and the trailing team has no control and will not get the ball back or have the chance to take advantage of the safety. But that does not undermine the intentional safety or require a limiting rule. Any problem there can be remedied by still requiring the team to free kick after the safety, even with no time on the clock, giving the trailing team an opportunity to do something on that play (including the fair-catch-and-free-kick). In other words, treat a safety at the end of the game the same as any other safety. We already some precedent on this. A game cannot end on a defensive penalty. And a team that scores a game-winning touchdown on the final play still must play the point-after, even with no time on the clock.
So another fun example of sports rules in action. Just as last fall's National League Wild Card had everyone talking about the IFR, I am glad this Super Bowl has people talking about the intentional safety. But it further illustrates how just unique the Infield Fly Rule is. and another illustration of what makes the Infield Fly Rule so unique.
* John Hollinger pointed out how smart that hold actually was. If the hold had been called, the result would have been a safety (the typical result of a holding penalty in the end zone), precisely what the Ravens wanted there. Since it wasn't called, it just let the Ravens run more time off the clock.
Under my model (introduced here and being refined in a current work-in-progress), three features define a sports situation as so out-of-balance as to warrant a special limiting rule: 1) Negative incentives for a team to intentionally not do what we expect under ordinary rules and strategies; 2) total control over the play resting with one team and leaves the other helpless to counter the play; and 3) overwhelming cost-benefit disparity, with substantial benefits in favor of the controlling team and substantial costs imposed on (and absolutely no benefits received by) the opponent. Applying that standard, the intentional safety is not like the infield fly and should not be banned or limited.
One thing to keep in mind about football (distinct from baseball) is that there are several moving parts--teams not only worry about scoring and gaining maximum yardage on a play, but also about field position, sets of downs, and time. So football teams regularly make small cost-benefit trade-offs, intentionally failing to seek maximum yardage on a play in exchange for time off the clock. On the play in question, the Ravens incurred a cost--two points, meaning a field goal could tie the game, and they still have to kick the ball away--in exchange for the benefits of eight seconds off the clock and a more advantageous punting position (twenty yards upfield and no rush). The Niners, in turn, experienced both of those in reverse. The Niners also were not helpless or out of control on the play--although they could not stop the safety, they could have anticipated the play better, brought more pressure, and not allowed as much time to run off the clock (although there was a pretty blatant offensive hold on the play*). The Niners also benefited by getting the ball back (with more than four seconds if they had played it better) and an opportunity to make a counter-play--a run back on the kick, Hail Mary pass, or (as Jim Nantz discussed) the fair-catch kick, had the Ravens punter shanked the free kick. So the second and third features are clearly absent on this play. This looks like just one more example of teams exchanging small costs for small (but, it hopes, slightly greater) benefits.
This calculus would change if the safety occurred on the final play of the game (say, where the play starts with :01 on the clock). The play now contains all three features--there is a far greater cost-benefit imbalance, and the trailing team has no control and will not get the ball back or have the chance to take advantage of the safety. But that does not undermine the intentional safety or require a limiting rule. Any problem there can be remedied by still requiring the team to free kick after the safety, even with no time on the clock, giving the trailing team an opportunity to do something on that play (including the fair-catch-and-free-kick). In other words, treat a safety at the end of the game the same as any other safety. We already some precedent on this. A game cannot end on a defensive penalty. And a team that scores a game-winning touchdown on the final play still must play the point-after, even with no time on the clock.
So another fun example of sports rules in action. Just as last fall's National League Wild Card had everyone talking about the IFR, I am glad this Super Bowl has people talking about the intentional safety. But it further illustrates how just unique the Infield Fly Rule is. and another illustration of what makes the Infield Fly Rule so unique.
* John Hollinger pointed out how smart that hold actually was. If the hold had been called, the result would have been a safety (the typical result of a holding penalty in the end zone), precisely what the Ravens wanted there. Since it wasn't called, it just let the Ravens run more time off the clock.
Roger Goodell and reality
Full disclosure: I am going to watch the game today and I'll enjoy it. But this just defies reality. Yes, there is a "risk" of injury, including concussions and other head injuries, in any sport. But only in football is the very purpose of the game for very large people to run into one another at full speed, resulting in regular and repeated concussive- or sub-concussive-force collisions.
We can debate what should or should not be done about football. But let's not pretend it is not different in degree and in kind from any other sport.
We can debate what should or should not be done about football. But let's not pretend it is not different in degree and in kind from any other sport.
Friday, February 1, 2013
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.
AFC announces litmus test post-Bin Hammam presidential election
By James M. Dorsey
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has announced an election to replace its banned former head, Mohammed Bin Hammam that will determine the group’s sincerity in breaking with the past by acting on recommendations for reform and ensuring good governance.
The election comes against the backdrop of multiple scandals that have rocked soccer’s governing bodies. Mr. Bin Hammam was at the center of the scandals. After a bitter battle, he was late last year banned for life by FIFA, world football’s governing authority, on charges of mismanagement of the AFC’s finances and “repeated violations” of the FIFA Code of Ethics related to conflict of interest.
“This election is not about the presidency; it is about reform and good governance within the AFC. Candidates will have to step up to the plate and present their credentials for reform,” said a source close to the AFC.
Nominations for the election, which will be held on May 2, are open until March 3. So far, three candidates – Acting AFC president Zhang Zhilong of China, Yousuf Al Serkal from the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain’s Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa – are believed to be in the running. It was not clear whether a representative of the reformers within the AFC would run for the group’s highest office.
Of the three current candidates, only Mr. Zhang, who despite having headed the AFC’s finance committee during Mr. Bin Hammam’s tenure, has shown any inclination towards badly needed reform of the AFC.
Mr. Serkal, who hired two employees of the AFC who were dismissed for their alleged involvement in Mr. Bin Hammam’s financial management and were named in an internal audit that brought the mismanagement to light, is widely seen as close to the disgraced Qatari national.
Sheikh Salman is controversial because of his endorsement of a crackdown on Bahraini athletes and sports executives, including members of the Gulf state’s national soccer team, some of who claimed that they were tortured in prison, for their participation in 2011 in a popular uprising on the island.
The internal audit conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) charged that Mr. Bin Hammam had used an AFC personal account as his personal account and raised questions about his negotiation of a $1 billion master rights agreement with Singapore-based World Sport Group (WSG). It said that a WSG shareholder, associated with Saudi billionaire Saleh Kamel, had made two payments totaling $14 million to Mr. Bin Hammam in advance of signing the agreement.
PwC said that there was a “significant risk that: i. The AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder funds and that the funds have been credited to the former President (Bin Hammam) for an improper purpose (Money Laundering risk), ii. The AFC may have been used as a vehicle to launder the receipt and payment of bribes.”
The AFC executive committee late last year deferred the audit to its legal committee in a move that was widely seen as an attempt to bury it at least temporarily until the presidential election. WSG has initiated legal proceedings against this reporter in an unsuccessful bid to squash unfavorable reporting about its affairs and silence sources.
The stakes for the AFC and its credibility are high. The banning of Mr. Bin Hammam and the PwC report come in an environment in which world soccer’s governing bodies are viewed as secretive, non-transparent and unaccountable at best and corrupt at worst and that raises more questions than soccer officials have been willing to answer.
The newly elected AFC president will be under pressure to act on the PwC report that called on the AFC to seek legal counsel on possible civil or criminal action against Mr. Bin Hammam and to establish whether the WSG contract can be re-negotiated or even cancelled. “The new president will have to prioritize reform taking the PwC report into consideration,” said a source close to the AFC.
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
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.
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.
“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.
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