{"id":11884,"date":"2018-08-17T19:28:33","date_gmt":"2018-08-17T19:28:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=11884"},"modified":"2018-08-17T19:28:33","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T19:28:33","slug":"saudi-arabia-pledges-100m-to-help-stabilize-syrias-northeast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/?p=11884","title":{"rendered":"Saudi Arabia pledges $100m to help \u2018stabilize\u2019 Syria\u2019s northeast"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\nCAIRO:\u00a0The government\u2019s decision to lift a six-year ban on fans at domestic matches in\u00a0Egypt\u00a0from September is a welcome boost for the country\u2019s football-mad supporters, but many remain skeptical over how it would be implemented.<\/p>\n

\nBut previous empty promises from the\u00a0Egyptian\u00a0Football Association (EFA) to allow fans back into the stands have left the governing body with a shattered reputation, and many are now questioning if there will be any real change.<\/p>\n

\nDomestic matches have been played behind closed doors since the 2012 football tragedy in Port Said, when more than 70 Al-Ahly fans were killed after being confronted by rival Al-Masry supporters after a league match in the coastal city.<\/p>\n

\nThe ban was briefly lifted in February 2015 before being re-instated when more than 20 Zamalek supporters died in a stampede after security forces fired tear gas before a league game at Cairo\u2019s Army Defense Stadium.<\/p>\n

\nThe sports ministry said up to 5,000 fans will be allowed to attend league games from September. However, the ministry did not provide any further details amid doubts that attendance could be restricted.<\/p>\n

\nSome chairmen of\u00a0Egyptian\u00a0clubs, including Zamalek\u2019s firebrand president Mortada Mansour, suggested that attendance be restricted to registered club members or university students, thus depriving many football enthusiasts from buying tickets and watching their beloved clubs from the stands.<\/p>\n

\nMansour and several other chairmen said restrictions need to be put in place to avoid crowd trouble. However, many believe such worries are not justified given that Al-Ahly and Zamalek hardcore fan groups, mainly blamed by authorities for past riots, have already been dissolved.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cWhy are they panicking? The ultra groups they hate do not exist any more so there is no reason to worry. We should be all given an equal chance to buy tickets for football games,\u201d said Marwan Magdy, a 35-year-old supporter of Cairo giants Al-Ahly.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cIf they can\u2019t secure a match with 5,000 fans, how can they expect to make a bid to host the World Cup?\u201d he added, referring to a bold assertion by Sports Minister Ashraf Sobhi that\u00a0Egypt\u00a0was considering submitting a bid to stage the 2030 World Cup.<\/p>\n

\nSome other mechanisms were implemented in the past but have seen little success, including an online website Al-Ahly launched through which their fans could apply to buy tickets using a card issued by the club. Critics argued it was too complicated.<\/p>\n

\nGrowing rivalry<\/strong><\/p>\n

\nDespite the absence of fans over the past six years, the usual heated rivalry between\u00a0Egypt\u2019s traditional powers Al-Ahly and Zamalek has grown on social media platforms, with both sides\u2019 fans trading insults before and after every game.<\/p>\n

\nThe exchanges are another reason some are worried that lifting the ban could lead to a return of violence.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cImagine if those who insult each other day and night on the social media come face-to-face. There will be other disasters,\u201d said Karim Sobhy, a 26-year-old fan from Zamalek.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cI really miss the sight of fans cheering on their teams at stadiums, but I\u2019m equally worried over what could happen should rival fans meet again. We don\u2019t want another Port Said.\u201d<\/p>\n

\nMany still believe lifting of the ban was necessary to improve the quality of the game after years of \u201cdull matches.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u201cDo you remember when many\u00a0Egypt\u00a0players buckled under pressure at the World Cup when we lost all three games? This was partly because they were not used to playing before fans,\u201d said Rady Abdel-Gawad, a die-hard follower of Ismaily,\u00a0Egypt\u2019s third most successful club.<\/p>\n

\n\u201cThe fans will save the future of\u00a0Egyptian\u00a0football. The players really need to play in electrifying atmospheres.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CAIRO:\u00a0The government\u2019s decision to lift a six-year ban on fans at domestic matches in\u00a0Egypt\u00a0from September is a welcome boost for the country\u2019s football-mad supporters, but many remain skeptical over how it would be implemented. But previous empty promises from the\u00a0Egyptian\u00a0Football Association (EFA) to allow fans back into the stands have left the governing body with…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":11885,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle_east_news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11884"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11884\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11885"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qatar-news.org\/qatarnewsEn\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}