Egypt

Football clubs protest league cancellation

Players and administrators of second division football clubs stormed the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) on Tuesday, in protest of the cancellation of the league, which the league says would make them go bankrupt.

Demonstrators clashed with Azmi Megahid, the spokesman of the association, and almost hit him.

Players and administrators from the Hammam, the Olympic, Aswan, Wasta, Beni Suef, Matrouh and the Railways Clubs were involved.

The Egyptian Premier League season has been cancelled with 19 games remaining. The league will be replaced by a friendly tournament due to run from 29 March to 18 May, EFA announced on Saturday.

The club leaders of the Egyptian Premier League said that the league should not continue due to the fragile security situation in the country during a meeting on Saturday.

More than 70 people were killed on 1 February when Masry fans flooded the field in Port Said Stadium, seconds after the end of a match between the home team and the Cairo-based Ahly Club.

In the weeks following the match, demonstrations in Suez and at the Interior Ministry in Cairo protested what the demonstrators described as lax security measures during the match.

At least 17 died during the demonstrations.

Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm

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