Egypt stadium massacre: Cairo court sentences 10 accused to death

Cairo: An Egyptian court on Monday sentenced to death 10 persons over charges of murder and violence for the 2012 stadium massacre that left over 70 people dead. [caption id=“attachment_214913” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Al-Ahly soccer fans at a protest in Cairo. Reuters[/caption] The relatives of the victims gathered at the Court of Cassation in Cairo holding photos of those who died in the deadly massacre at Port Said, Efe news reported. The clashes took place on 1 February, 2012 during a game between Port Said-based al-Masry soccer club and Cairo-based al-Ahly, of which supporters were attacked with knives, swords, clubs, stones, bottles, resulting in the death of 74 people and injuring 200 others. The Port Said criminal court in June 2015 sentenced to death 11 people, one of them in absentia, in a retrial. A total of 73 people have been tried on charges of violence and murder, 21 were acquitted while senior political or sports officials received sentences of a few years in jail. As a result of the riot, the Egyptian government shut down the domestic league for two years, which affected the Egyptian national team. According to The Guardian,  twin brothers who play for Al-Masry football team, whose match against a rival team in Egypt ended in a riot, claim the violence was encouraged by the police with the backing of the army. Captain Karim Zekri and his brother, Mohamed, had told CommentMidEast.com that there was strong proof that the bloodshed was planned.