Investigations into the Port Said football violence, which resulted in the deaths of over 70 people, revealed that the main suspect in the case, a 35-year-old ex-convict named Al-Sayed Mohamed Refat al-Denf, was paid to lead some 800 fans of Port Said’s Masry football club in an attack on fans Cairo’s Ahly club, Al-Masry Al-Youm reported.
On 1 February after a match between Ahly and Masry, scores of fans stormed the field and the visiting team’s bleachers in the worst incident of football violence in Egypt’s history.
Last Thursday, the general attorney charged 75 people with murder and negligence in the case, including nine police officers and two minors.
Among the police officers charged are Port Said’s former police chief Issam Samak.
Denf reportedly told prosecutors that five buses transported fans coming from the Daqahlia Governorate to Port Said, and added that people from three of the buses joined Masry fans at the game and people from the other two buses sat among Ahly fans.
Denf told prosecutors that the people who came from Daqahlia were directed to cause unrest in Port Said.
Translated from Al-Masry Al-Youm
