Thursday, February 2, 2012

The worst soccer violence in the world, 74 dead, 1,000 injured in Port Said, Egypt, 2nd February 2012












They came to see a football match, but they ended up dead!!!

Egypt is no stranger to rioting. Riot like the Egyptians, some said. Even after long time President Hosni Mubarak was ousted by people's power last January 2011, the riots continue.

Even in soccer, people in Egypt will kill each other, just because they don't like the result. Come on man, this is soccer, sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Even the great Teams like Barcelona and Brazil, lose some matches, they cannot win for 1,000 consecutive matches.

Come on Egyptians... Are you all insane??



In the incident on Wednesday 2nd February 2012 in Port Said, 74 people died and more than 1,000 were injured when violence erupted at the end of a football match which was won by the home team, Al Masry beating the nation's top team, Al Ahly 3-1.

Rival fans invaded the pitch as the final whistle blew and started throwing stones, fireworks, flares and bottles.

Players ran for their lives down the tunnel as the match turned into a bloody battle zone.

Al-Ahly star Mohamed Abo Treika said as the shocking scenes unfolded in Port Said: This is not football any more. This is war. People are dying in front of us.

He added: There is no movement and no security and no ambulances this is a horrible situation and one that can never be forgotten.

Stunned TV viewers saw live pictures of the carnage that followed al-Masrys 3-1 home victory over Cairo club al-Ahly as fans set fire to the stands.

The death toll, which officials fear could rise, includes stewards.

The 1,200 travelling al-Ahli fans were hopelessly outnumbered as there were around 13,000 al-Masry supporters in the ground.

Fans were seen cornering rivals and opposition players as others went on a wrecking spree in the stands.

At one stage a small group of riot police formed a corridor to try to protect players. But they were quickly overwhelmed and fans kicked and punched them as they fled for the relative safety of the dressing rooms.

According to some reports, the al-Ahly manager had to be rescued by a posse of police as he was being viciously beaten by an angry mob.

Egypts armed forces sent helicopters to the stadium to rescue al-Ahly players and as many supporters as they could.

Most deaths were reportedly caused by concussions, deep head wounds and suffocation from the stampede.

40 people were in serious conditions and undergoing surgery. Officials believe the violence could have been organised in advance.

Witnesses reported fans bringing knives into the ground.

It is the biggest disaster in Egypts soccer history.

Egyptian football fans are notoriously violent, particularly supporters of al-Ahly who call themselves the Ultras.

But despite extreme rivalry between the two clubs and the potential for trouble following violence at other matches in recent weeks, security had been downgraded and to me this shows that the Egyptian police is stupid as well...!!!

Police have kept a much lower profile since the mass protests in Cairo and other cities last year in 2011, which saw President Hosni Mubarak ousted from power.

All forthcoming premier league matches in Egypt were immediately cancelled until further notice and the newly elected parliament will meet today to discuss the riots.



THE HILLSBOROUGH TRAGEDY, 15 APRIL 1989

Before the Egypt incident, the worst ever football disaster was the Hillsborough disaster that occurred on 15 April 1989 at the Hillsborough football stadium, in Sheffield, England.

96 people were crushed to death and 766 injured, all fans of Liverpool.

It remains the deadliest stadium-related disaster in British history and one of the worst ever international football accidents.

The match, an FA Cup semi-final tie between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest, was abandoned 6 minutes into the game.

The official inquiry into the disaster, the Taylor Report, concluded that the main reason for the disaster was the failure of police control, the findings which resulted in the elimination of standing terraces at all major football stadiums in both England and Scotland.

THE HEYSEL TRAGEDY, 29 May 1985

Among the worst ever soccer disaster before the Egyptian incident was also the Heysel Stadium Disaster, in Brussels, Belgium which happened on 29 May 1985, which again involves Liverpool, my favourite team. Very sad indeed.



39 Juventus fans died while 600 injured when escaping fans were pressed against a wall in the Heysel Stadium before the start of the 1985 European Cup Final between Liverpool of England and Juventus of Italy.

Approximately one hour before the Liverpool-Juventus final was due to kick off, a large group of Liverpool fans breached a fence separating them from a "neutral area" which contained rival Juventus fans.

The Juventus fans ran back on the terraces and away from the threat into a concrete retaining wall. Fans already seated near the wall were crushed; eventually the wall collapsed. Many people climbed over to safety, but many others died or were badly injured.

The game was played despite the disaster in order to prevent further violence, won by Juventus 1-0, via a Michel Platini penalty after Boniek was fouled.

The tragedy resulted in all English football clubs being placed under an indefinite ban by UEFA from all European competitions, which was lifted in 1990–91, with Liverpool being excluded for an additional year and several Liverpool fans prosecuted for manslaughter.

The disaster was later described as "the darkest hour in the history of the UEFA competitions".

God bless the victims and their loved ones. Rest in Peace.

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