Egypt The Egyptian Football Premier League (EPL) said on Sunday that 3,000 Al-Ahly supporters have been banned for two matches for yelling “insults” at Zamalek and Egypt star Shikabala during the team’s most recent match against Pharco.
Despite the fact that league leaders Al-Ahly did not play Zamalek on Friday, their 3,000 supporters, who represent the maximum number of spectators permitted for any club in a domestic soccer game, unloaded their ire at midfielder Shikabala in a long-running trash war.
Al-Ahly was also assessed a fine for the event of 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($650).
Additionally, the EPL banned 2,021 Ismaili supporters and 874 Ittihad supporters for yelling epithets during their separate matches against ENPPI and Smouha on Friday.
The EPL said in a statement on Sunday that “fans will be banned from attending league matches until the end of the season if the insults are repeated.”
Since the 2012 Port Said Stadium incident, which resulted in the deaths of over 70 Al-Ahly supporters and hundreds of injuries, Egypt has set a limit of 6000 people for domestic football matches, with a restriction of 3000 for each side.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) or international matches involving the national team are the sole exceptions.
The country’s ticketing system compels supporters to provide identity when buying match tickets, making it simple for the authorities to locate attendance and, if necessary, suspend them.
“The league’s goal is to fill the stadiums to capacity, therefore we worked very hard to attract more spectators. Ahmed Diab, president of the EPL, said that we don’t want anybody to undermine our efforts.
“We only punish the wrongdoers and those who break the rules, and the punishment is not collective,” he said.
