Egyptian Football League Start Pushed Back after Failure to Get Security Clearance

The restart of the Egyptian football league, has been postponed indefinitely because the government has not provided security clearance.

Games cannot be played without guarantees of safety and, after Ultras supporters of Al-Ahly threatened more disruption if the league resumed before the completion of the trial resulting from the Port Said Stadium deaths, the ministry of the interior declined to give the FA the necessary authorisation.

In total, 74 people were killed during a match between Al-Ahly and Al-Masry on February 1 when clashes and a pitch invasion broke out. Witnesses claimed police did little to stop the violence.

The league was suspended after the incident, and the scheduled September 17 resumption was put back a month after Al-Ahly fans stormed the Egyptian FA’s headquarters to protest against the decision.

An FA official told Egypt’s Ahram Online that the FA’s newly-elected board “had decided to take the side of martyrs and injured families and to support the Ultras in their demand to freeze the league competition until the Port Said case ends”.