All football in Egypt "was postponed indefinitely on Monday after at least 19 people were killed following clashes between fans and police outside a stadium in Cairo on Sunday," according to Osama Khairy of REUTERS. A Health Ministry spokesperson said the final toll was 19 dead, but the public prosecutor's office said there were 22 fatalities while Zamalek supporters group, the Ultras White Knights, said on their Facebook page they have "28 martyrs till now." Whatever the exact tally, "there will be no football in any of Egypt's top three divisions or at minor level" following the latest outbreak of football-related violence in the country. The deaths "occurred when fans were crushed in a stampede after police fired tear gas at Zamalek supporters attempting to get into the stadium for the match against city rivals ENPPI" (REUTERS, 2/9). The BBC reported fans "blamed police for forcing them through a narrow, fenced-in passageway." President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has expressed "great sorrow" over the deaths and promised an investigation. State media reported that "only 5,000 tickets were made available for sale to the public for Sunday evening's match between Zamalek and ENPPI at the 30,000-capacity Air Defense Stadium in the east of the capital." But thousands of ticketless Zamalek fans reportedly "tried to gain entry anyway." The interior ministry said they had "attempted to storm the stadium gates by force, which prompted police to prevent them from continuing the assault," setting off a deadly stampede (BBC, 2/9). INFORMATION NIGERIA's Omaku Cephas reported FIFA President Sepp Blatter, in a letter to the head of the EFA, Mohammed Gamal, "condoled with the federation." Blatter: "We await the results of the investigation into this tragedy and are ready to provide the Egyptian Football Association with any support they may need in dealing with the aftermath of this event" (INFORMATION NIGERIA, 2/9). In London, Heba Saleh wrote the football violence "is the deadliest since 70 people were killed at a football game in the city of Port Said almost three years ago." The Ultra groups "have a history of fighting with police on and off football stadiums." They "have also fought alongside protesters against the security forces during several bouts of violence in the wake of the 2011 revolution which toppled Hosni Mubarak as president" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 2/8).
