Black Saturday

I have not been active on my blog for sometime, ever since the revolution broke out in my country of Egypt I seem to have lost my footballing appetite. Yesterday was a disastrous day for Egyptian Sport in general and Football in particular. Thousands of Zamalek fans invaded the pitch with minutes to spare during their game against Al Afreeky (Club Africa) of Tunisia. Zamalek where on their way to getting knocked out and then all hell broke loose...

Check the video below...There are some graphic scenes

I am lost for words to describe this chaos. In my opinion this was no ordinary mob of angry fans, but I'm not going to talk about politics here as I hope this blog continues to remain 100 percent sports related (with the odd movie here and there). However here is food for thought:

In my 30 years of watching football in Egypt I have never seen such scenes not even in the most violent of Cairo derbies. In my experience Egyptian fans when they start getting angry or feel injustice proceed to do the following:

Step 1- Hurl vocal abuse towards the referee

Step 2- Start throwing objects from stones to water bottles to anything they can get their hands on onto the pitch

Step 3- Possibly engage with opposition fans by verbal abuse and or throwing stuff at them too

Step 4- Start destroying their surrounding from chairs and such and possibly start using these objects as projectiles to hurl at opposition players and fans

Step5 - The might try to invade the pith but they usually are unable to..

I have never seen fans in this country skip all these steps and proceed to step 5 and succeed with out barriers to stop them. Not only that, they reached step 5 armed with weapons and clubs. Made me feel they were ready for this. I had never seen prior to yesterday in Egypt:

1- Fans Assault their own players

2- Fans assault their club manager and staff

3- Sections of the Angry mob proceed to protect other team players and the referee??

4- Fans attack their own fans in the stadium

More food for though:

Where was the stadium security?

Why was it so easy to invade the pitch? The security gates were easily opened during the game, how?

Why did this not happen in the Ahly game vs Supersport, or the Ismailly game were the stadium was packed. Playing a Tunisian team is much more high profile I guess.

Why was there no security to check that people had nothing on them? That's ABC stadium security

Whats the whole thing bout fans coming to stadium at 10am (game was at 6pm) and they refused to leave ?

Some one should be held accountable for allowing this invasion and permitting fans to enter the stadium with such weapons. There is enough video evidence to make hundreds of arrests. It should be examined carefully. Athletes were assaulted, sportsmen whose job is to entertain were beaten up and made to fear for their life. This is UNACCEPTABLE! My condolences and sincerest apologies go out to our Tunisian brothers

There had to be some footballing factors as well. Ibrahim Hassan's comments prior to the game in response to some Tunisian fans invading the pitch with Egypt/Tunisia flags in the first leg had to insight many fans. He more or less suggested that fans should come onto the pitch in Egypt. However I've heard the recording and the accusation that this was the real cause seems shady at best, although I truly despise this guy for his attitude and ignorant comments.

The referee overturning an injury time goal could have been a real factor, however there were 3 minutes left to go, so the game was not over yet...how about you wait till it ends then go down?

Again how was it that easy to get onto the pitch...

In my opinion Zamalek will be crucified for the lack of security for this game and deservedly so. I would think 5years ban from African competition would be fair. If Zamalek felt there was a security risk then the game should have never happened. I think the impact over all will be huge on football in Egypt. Probably Ahly will not be able to continue playing in this competition. Who would want to play in Cairo stadium again and frankly who could blame them? If the police can't handle stadium security at the moment and I don't blame them, football should be stopped for the foreseeable future.

People will say clubs will go bankrupt...I say let them go bankrupt, the footballing industry is one of the most shady and corrupt organizations in the country and public resources are thrown down the drain everyday.

To Zamalek fans not involved in these appalling scenes. You should be proud of your players who stood side by side with their Tunisian brothers and tried to protect them. Some even took blows for them. Even the Hassan brothers (who I despise) deserve credit for their efforts in trying to protect Tunisian players. Also be proud of your fans who tried to protect both.

To all the thugs that caused these scenes. I call on the army and the police to hunt you down. Your faces are all over TV. You should be prosecuted and given the maximum punishment because I am ashamed to be affiliated with you in any shape or form.

To Tunis and Tunisians. The scenes I saw yesterday made me angry and disgusted so I can only imagine how it made you feel. I can apologize for all Egyptians from here to eternity and it would not be enough. Our deepest sorrow and condolences go out to the players and their families for what they had to go through. Our promise goes out to all of Tunisia that we will find those who were responsible and will bring them to justice.

Egypt and Tunisia are forever bound in revolution. You had been an inspiration to our country in it's quest for freedom. What has been bound in blood cannot be broken by the mere actions of a few who would aim to brake this feeling of solidarity.

Please forgive us Tunisia