Suppose you are a fan of Cairo’s Al-Ahly football club. Your team, the most successful club in the world in terms of trophies won, but currently sits second in the league table, one point behind surprise contenders Haras El Hodood (“Border Guards”) Football Club. Next up is an away trip to Port Said to face Masry Football Club.

Unlike other away matches, however, 72 Ahly fans will not make the return journey home. The utter carnage that happened at that match on Feb 1, 2012 was so horrifying it led to the suspension of the Egyptian Premier League for two years and raised many questions about the interim transitional government following Egypt’s Arab Spring in 2011, and the level of collusion between the state and the so called Masry ultras who ran riot during and after the match.

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