SoccerVideo

Video From The Egyptian Soccer Riots That Have Killed At Least 70 People

The rivalry between Al-Masry’s and Al-Ahly’s football clubs is one of the most hotly-contested in Egypt, but fan tempers ran tragically high – resulting in the deaths of over 70 people and counting – after Al-Masry beat Al-Ahly 3-1 today in Port Said, Egypt. Al-Masry fans stormed the pitch after beating what’s described here as Egypt’s best team, and according to a security worker, in some cases threw objects like stones and bottles at the rival fans. Some of the chaos was captured here:

According to Al-Jazeera, there’s “a long history of bad blood” between the two clubs, and they’ve clashed before. And there may be a reason why this one in particular spiraled so far out of control:

Al Jazeera’s Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said several football games after the revolution have witnessed violence due to the absence of police forces.

“In the security vacuum that has lasted since the revolution, the police force has basically disappeared from the street after their notorious performance during the revolution.

As monumental an occurrence as the revolution that overthrew longtime Egyptian ruler Hosni Mubarak was, the aftermath hasn’t been smooth, either. Even accounting for lack of security, though, seeing something like this throws into focus how quickly fan passion can go from one of the best things about sports to one of the worst.

UPDATE: Al-Ahly is being evacuated from the stadium with Egyptian military helicopters. Wow.

[Business Insider]