EGYPT REELING

Violence Erupts Following Port Said Verdict

Fans of both soccer teams take to the streets.

Another Port Said verdict, another melee. Following the announcement that death sentences would be upheld on Saturday for 21 Egyptian soccer fans accused of inciting deadly stadium riots after a game last year, fans of both teams took to the streets. Fans of the Cairo team protested the acquittal of seven police, while Port Said fans reacted against the condemnation of their own. Buildings, including a Cairo police officers’ club and the football federation’s headquarters, were torched, and a major Cairo bridge was temporarily blocked. In Port Said, the army had to stop protesters from blocking access to the Suez Canal. Soccer is having a moment—and it’s not a good one.