Following a rare victory for Al-Masry over bitter rivals Al-Ahy at
Port Said, fights broke off between opposition fans that tragically claimed lives of at least 74 while 1000 were left injured
A football clash in http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Egypt-c2890 turned from bad to ugly in a local Egyptian League encounter which left 1000 people injured and 74 dead.
Minnows Al-Masry claimed a very rare 3-1 victory over Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly. However, following the final whistle, hundreds of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Al-Masry-c38336 fans stormed the pitch carrying stones and sticks.
According to Egyptian state television, the supporters attacked players and opposition fans and even cornered the traveling Al-Ahly supporters who had nowhere to run. The fans then started throwing stones and bottles at them.
According to a medic working at a morgue in Port Said, some of the dead were security officials. However, the medics are still far away from finding out the causes of the deaths.
Al-Masry and http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Al-Ahly-c38288 share one of the most bitter footballing rivalries in Africa and there has been a lot of bad blood between the two teams in recent years. In recent years, these clashes have taken a whole new dimension despite the increase in security.
Al-Ahly striker, Sayed Hamdi while talking to media said that both sides’ players were taken to the dressing room and they remained there for hours under a lot of protection.
Soon after the violence erupted, Al-Ismailiya and Zamalek’s directors chose to cancel their game in mourning of the deaths. However, live footage showed that many sections of the Cairo Stadium had caught fire.
Angry Zamalek fans protested at the cancellation of the game and lit alight many sections of the stadium.
Sepp Blatter, president of FIFA was appalled at the whole event and expressed his sympathy to those who had lost their loved ones in one of the biggest footballing tragedies in recent years.
"I am very shocked and saddened to learn this evening that a large number of football supporters have died or been injured following a match in Port Said, Egypt,'' the statement read.
"My thoughts are with the families of those who have lost their lives this evening. This is a black day for football. Such a catastrophic situation is unimaginable and should not happen.''
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