adminCAIRO. — Court in Egypt on Monday jailed 15 hard core football fans known as “ultras” for trying to kill the chairman of the popular Cairo-based Zamalek club, an official said.
“Ultras”, who were at the forefront of the 2011 uprising against ex-president Hosni Mubarak, had already been banned as a group since May 2015 after another court found them guilty of taking part in violence.
Since February 2012 the authorities have banned all spectators from football matches in stadiums, as whenever some games were opened to the public they were marred by crowd violence, sometimes deadly.
On Monday, a court sentenced 11 Ultras White Knights, diehard Zamalek supporters, to one year for “planning, participating and attempting to murder Mourtada Mansour”, chairman of the club, in August 2014, the official said.
They were also found guilty of possessing weapons and fireworks.
The prosecution said the defendants attacked Mansour at the club’s gate, and during the assault a security guard and a journalist were wounded by birdshot. — AFP.
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