Angry Fans Storm Headquarters after Death Sentences over Port Said Riot

Local Editor

Headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association were set ablaze on Saturday, minutes after the police officers' club complex in Cairo was stormed and set on fire. Both accidents took place shortly after the Egyptian court confirmed death sentences for 21 defendants over Port Said’s deadly football riot which killed 74 people in 2012, mostly fans of the visiting Cairo Al-Ahly club. The court, sitting in Cairo for security reasons, also handed down life sentences to five defendants, with 19 receiving lesser jail terms and another 28 exonerated. Ahly fans had warned police that they would retaliate if the defendants, including nine policemen, were exonerated. The court sentenced senior policemen to 15 years each -- former head of police security General Mohammed Samak and Brigadier General Mohammed Saad, who at the time of the stadium riot had the keys to the stadium gates, which were locked. Seven remaining police defendants were acquitted. On Saturday, several buildings in the police officers' club complex in the Egyptian capital were in flames after hardcore football fans known as the Ultras stormed the complex and set fire to the buildings, AFP reported. The Egyptian state television said that “several hundred members of the Ultras were also making their way towards the Interior Ministry.” Only minutes later, the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association were set ablaze. Firefighters were working to put out the fire which spread through the building located in the same neighborhood as the officers' club, an AFP reporter said. Football officials were holding emergency talks in Cairo to discuss upcoming fixtures around the country, state television reported.

Source: AFP 09-03-2013 - 11:40 Last updated 09-03-2013 - 14:34

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