Soccer Revolution or Just Business as Usual?
Yesterday’s bloody soccer riots in the Egyptian city of Port Said left at least 73 people dead, and top members of the new Egyptian parliament blame the military junta for escalating the violence.
Protesters, many of them soccer fans, are now taking to the streets of Egypt, condemning the junta. And while there are certainly plenty of reasons to condemn Egypt’s junta at any given moment, it isn’t clear that a soccer riot is one of them.
Indeed, soccer riots are a relatively common occurrence, and while 73 is a high death toll, it struggles to make it into the top ten deadliest soccer riots of the past fifty years. It almost seems tame in comparison to the riot at a Peruvian match in 1964, spurred by a referee’s blown call, which took 318 lives, or the October 1982 riot at Moscow’s Lenin Stadium, caused when a late goal convinced people who were leaving the game early to rush back to their seats.
In fact, this isn’t even the deadliest soccer riot in Africa in recent years. In 2001, police in Accra, Ghana, started a riot at a rivalry game, firing tear gas into the stands, resulting in the deaths of 120 fans who tried to leave the stadium. The death toll inspired a national day of mourning.
Dan
February 2nd, 2012 at 12:57 pm
The thugs who precipitated this were not "soccer fans"–they came armed and organized, and Security never intervened. This was a slaughter of the Ultras–fanatic fans of their club–who also, not coincidentally, were among the most militant of the demonstrators against the military rulers of Egypt. This is not a "soccer hooligan scenario"–and today's massive demonstrations are by people who are very much aware of the true score. The SCAF (ruling junta) set their paid thugs on these people…and this is not the first time they've done this. It's a figleaf to cover their own bloody hands. All Power to the People.
Soccer Revolution or Just Business as Usual? « Antiwar.com Blog | | Bet To WinBet To Win
February 2nd, 2012 at 2:38 pm
[...] rest is here: Soccer Revolution or Just Business as Usual? « Antiwar.com Blog jQuery(document).ready(function($) { [...]
dancewater2
February 3rd, 2012 at 9:41 pm
I read that the police opened gates for the attackers at the soccer game – and blocked gates for the Ultras to leave. Don't know if that is true or not…. but I have not heard of a breakdown of how many were killed from each side.