CAIRO: Violence marred Zamalek basketball club’s National Championship-winning victory over Al-Ahly club at the Cairo International Stadium Sunday.
Zamalek clinched a dramatic 68-67 victory over their bitter city-rivals, but scenes of jubilation quickly turned sour as disgruntled Al-Ahly fans invaded the court attacking Zamalek fans, team-members and even management.
An individual present at the game who asked to remain anonymous told Daily News Egypt that Al-Ahly fans had been chanting provocatively throughout the game, and began throwing missiles onto the court after it had finished.
As both sets of fans were exiting the arena, he said, the larger Al-Ahly crowd began scuffling with their Zamalek counterparts.
When everyone was outside the arena they began throwing makeshift Molotov cocktails at the Zamalek fans.
One Zamalek fan, named as Mohammed Abdel Moula, was hospitalized with severe burns after being set alight by the incendiary materials and is currently in a stable condition at Demerdash Hospital.
The mob then set upon a bus that had brought Zamalek fans down from Alexandria, before trashing the car of Zamalek player Haithem Saieed.
In a statement Monday Zamalek Club’s President Mamdouh Abbas condemned the behaviour of the Ahly fans, referring to the incident as a “catastrophe .
Abbas called on Egypt’s sporting authorities to impose severe penalties on those involved and increase security to prevent a repeat, and even suggested forbidding fans from attending future games.
The Zamalek board also sent a letter to the Ministry of Interior urging them to intervene and punish the offending Al-Ahly fans.
Al-Ahly Chairman Hassan Hamdy visited Abdel Moula in hospital and apologized on behalf of the club and condemned the behavior of the Al-Ahly fans.
Sports journalist Mohamed Sabe told Daily News Egypt that basketball games between Al-Ahly and Zamalek had become increasingly tense in recent meetings, a carry over from the intense rivalry between the clubs’ respective football teams.
A member of an Al-Ahly supporters group Amr Fahmy told Daily News Egypt that fights between Al-Ahly and Zamalek fans were not uncommon after both football and basketball games, but pointed out that the same was true of any major rivalling clubs.
“You find far worse violence between fans in Europe, he said.
