CAIRO (AP) — Fans of Cairo’s Al-Ahly club have stormed Egypt’s soccer federation headquarters, setting it ablaze in anger after a court acquitted seven of nine police officials on trial for their alleged role in a deadly stadium melee last year.
Fire also swept through a nearby police club, but it was not immediately clear whether Al-Ahly fans were responsible for that blaze as well. Heavy black smoke billowed out of the rose-colored, three-story neocolonial building in central Cairo.
The fires followed a court verdict earlier Saturday that confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in the 2012 riot that killed 74 people after a game in the city of Port Said. The court also sentenced two senior police officers to 15 years in prison, but acquitted seven other security officials.
