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24 Mar, 2012 10:54

Football ban instigates clashes in Port Said, 1 dead (VIDEO)

Fans of Egypt’s top football team Al-Masry went insane on news their side was given a two-year ban over the February 1 massacre in Port Said, when team’s fans turned a stadium into a slaughterhouse, beating and stubbing to death at least 74 people.

The disorder created by hundreds of football fans in the very same city of Port Said on Friday continued through early hours on Saturday. The result was the death of a 13-year-old boy, who died in hospital after being shot in the back. Two more people are being treated in hospital for gunshot wounds.At least 68 more were wounded in clashes of suspended Al-Masry fans and police. The rioters made an attempt to break through to the Suez Canal, but were fought off by law enforcement. Police had to shoot in the air to disperse crowds.The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced ban for the Al-Masry club means it will not compete till the end of 2013.The same fate awaits the stadium in Port Said, where the tragedy took place. It is going to be closed for three years.Al-Masry’s main counterpart, Cairo-based al-Ahly, known as Africa’s most successful club, was ordered to play four games behind closed doors, a move denounced by the team’s fans, which plan to sit-in at the team's headquarters on Sunday.After the massacre at Port Said stadium on February 1, which left at least 74 dead and over 1,000 wounded, the rumors that police did not intervene and let fans bring weapons to the game, created more violence on the streets. Further clashes left 16 dead.Large protests have been held outside the Ministry of Interior of Egypt.Egypt's chief prosecutor has already charged 75 people, including nine police officers, with murder or negligence over the February tragedy in Port Said.Lawrence Davidson, Professor of Middle East history at West Chester University, says there is no clear end to the violence in Egypt because there is no one in charge of the situation in the country.“Egypt has no standing law and order…The government is not in control, the army is not going to come out of its barracks unless confronted in a very large way,” he told RT. “The populace is essentially on its own. And that means that when unpopular decisions are made, you are going to get this sort of spontaneous kind of outburst of anger, and there is no capacity to control it, nor is there any capacity to prevent the reasons for it.”

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