Families of fans who died outside an Egyptian soccer stadium when security forces barred fans from entering will be offered 25,000 Egyptian pounds ($4,216) each in compensation.
A health ministry spokesman said the final toll was 19 dead, but the public prosecutor’s office said there were 22 fatalities while Zamalek club supporters group, the Ultras White Knights, said on their Facebook page they have “28 martyrs till now”.
Most of the dead were suffocated when the crowd stampeded after police used tear gas to clear the fans trying to force their way into a league match between two Cairo clubs, Zamalek and Enppi, doctors and witnesses said.
“We will have another meeting after the three days of mourning with all parties concerned to discuss resuming football matches,” the Egyptian Football federation (EFA), said in a statement.
The EFA has postponed all domestic matches indefinitely.
Egyptian FA member board Mahmoud el-Shami said the league should “resume as soon as possible”.
“Tension could rise further if the government decides… to re-impose a ban on spectators attending soccer matches,” said James Dorsey, an expert on Middle East soccer at the Singapore-based S Rajaratnam School of International Studies.
“The league cannot be postponed more than that as four clubs will participate in African competitions and the Egypt national team will start playing in World Cup 2018 qualification next July.”
Egypt, without a coach since Shawki Gharib’s departure last November, are poised to announce a new coach later this month.
The Egyptian government ordered a probe into the deaths as pressure mounted on authorities over the country’s latest outbreak of violence.
President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the investigation is meant to “to uncover the root causes” of the violence, his office said, as fans blamed the police.
The Ultras White Knights, who have been at the forefront of previous anti-government protests, said on their Facebook page that most of the victims had been trapped inside a metal enclosure that was only set up at the grounds the day before the match.
Others also pointed fingers at the authorities, including several youth groups who demanded the resignation of interior minister Mohamed Ibrahim.
Prominent journalist Ibrahim Eissa, usually known for his pro-Sisi stance, blamed the president and the interior ministry for the violence.
Sisi “is directly responsible and politically accountable for the blood that has been spilt,” he said in televised remarks.
The incident also dashed hopes that Sisi’s government “may adopt a less brutal approach to its civil society opponents,” he said.
Source: AFP/Reuters