Football loses lustre in Egypt

CAIRO. — Denied entry to watch his favourite football team, Osama Gamal glumly settled on a pavement outside and followed the match live on his phone as policemen guarded the near-empty stadium.

Egypt once boasted some of the strongest teams in Africa and the Middle East, and the sport was adored by millions.

But the bloody turmoil of the past four years has not spared the world’s most popular sport, which in the minds of many Egyptian fans has become synonymous with deadly riots and stampedes.

Games are now played in empty stadiums, with spectators banned.

“Although it is played for spectators, we no longer enjoy football, our only pleasure in life,” said Gamal (21).

Two editions of the Egyptian Premier League have been cancelled since the 2011 uprising that ousted longtime president Hosni Mubarak.

When the authorities did open some matches for spectators, they were marred by deadly violence.

In February, police fired tear gas at fans who tried to push their way into a Cairo stadium.

Nineteen people died in the ensuing stampede.

It was the second such incident since the 2011 uprising. In the deadliest sports riot in Egypt’s modern history, 72 fans were killed after a match in the canal city of Port Said in 2012.

“For the first time in my adult life, my favourite team Zamalek will win the premier league championship and we can’t even celebrate,” Gamal said.

Last week’s game between Cairo clubs El-Nasr and Zamalek — expected to win the trophy for the first time in 11 years — was attended by only a few high-profile invitees, with police outnumbering spectators, an AFP correspondent reported.

Football has always stirred passions among Egyptians, and many still accuse Mubarak of using it to distract them from the political and economic woes that marred his reign.

But that passion has turned to deadly violence in the political climate of recent years.

“I ran for my life from the teargas and chaos that erupted during the February stampede,” said lawyer Mohamed El-Arabi.

That match was among just a handful that had been open to the public, and the authorities reimposed the ban on spectators following the crush. — AFP.