CAIRO: Even as Egypt struggled against South Africa in the last 16 of the Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday, the home fans took time to honor a recent tradition.
In the 20th and 72nd minutes of a match that the Egyptians were to lose 1-0, hundreds of supporters switched on their mobile phone flashlights — a simple tribute to victims killed in deadly stadium clashes after the 2011 revolution.
“This is our tradition that we pull out our mobiles,” said 19-year-old Mostafa Atef.
“The blood of martyrs has nothing to do whether we support (rival clubs) Al Ahly or Zamalek.”
The timing of the flashlight tributes reflect the numbers of fans killed in two separate incidents.
There is still uncertainty at the number of fans who died in February 2012 when security forces stormed the field at the Port Said stadium of Al Masry during a match with Cairo-based Al Ahly.
Some reports claim 74 fans died that day, others say 72. Whichever, it was one of the world’s deadliest football clashes.
Three years later, almost to the day in 2015, 20 Zamalek fans — some reports say 22 — died after a mass stampede at the June 30 Stadium’s gates, prompted by police use of teargas and live bullets.
That led to the reinstatement of a total ban on attending domestic games which is still in effect.
For sales representative Islam Abdel Sadek, 30, the tragedies are a reminder that security in football stadiums will still be necessary after the tournament.
“Egypt is strong and safe now,” said Sadek. “But it’s a poignant memory and we are praying for the martyrs. So of course we will always turn our lights on.”
In a tournament designed to promote the country’s international image, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi told the national squad that preparations for international audiences were more important than their results on the pitch.
Under El-Sisi, who led the army’s overthrow of President Muhammad Mursi in 2013, a focus on political stability and crushing dissent has meant that even football has been heavily scrutinized by the security forces.
The Cup of Nations has been a testing ground for fan attendance when the domestic league resumes.
“Fans going back to the stadiums has been a great thing for Egyptian football,” said Ahmad Yousef, editor of website KingFut.
Authorities, though, have been selective in their choice of who attends matches with a new online system requiring a background check using an Egyptian national ID.
“When the league does restart after the tournament and whether Ultras fans will make their way back to the stadiums, that’s when trouble could start again,” he added.
In recent years, devoted fan groups known as the ‘Ultras’ have been politically active in mobilizing young, mostly male football enthusiasts.
The Ultras Red Devils of Al Ahly and White Knights of Zamalek have been caught up with, though, in a government crackdown.
Many online users, bitterly disappointed by the Pharoahs’ defeat by South Africa, pointed to the dozens of Ultras in jail as a sign of Egypt’s fear of football fans.
Less then 24 hours after the South Africa defeat, the whole of Egyptian football appears to be in disarray with federation president Hani Abou Rida sacking coach Javier Aguirre and then announcing his own resignation, paving the way for a vast shake-up within the organization.
Whether that will change the fans’ relationship with the security forces remains to be seen.
In the meantime, supporters like Atef will continue to flash their lights.
“We are honoring these martyrs so their memory lives on,” he said.
Egyptians light up stadium in tribute to fallen fans
Egyptians light up stadium in tribute to fallen fans
- “This is our tradition that we pull out our mobiles,” said 19-year-old Mostafa Atef
- The timing of the flashlight tributes reflect the numbers of fans killed in two separate incidents
Italian gymnastics ex-coach stands trial for bullying
ROME: The former coach of Italy’s rhythmic gymnastics team goes on trial Tuesday accused of bullying athletes, fueling questions over the treatment of young athletes as the country hosts the Winter Olympics.
Emanuela Maccarani, a former national team gymnast herself, faces charges of abuse of minors at a court in Monza near Milan, which is hosting part of the Games.
The trial was sparked by explosive claims three years ago by two promising Italian gymnasts, Nina Corradini and double world champion Anna Basta, who claimed they quit the sport while still teenagers as a result of psychological abuse by Maccarani.
Corradini and Basta are civil parties along with two other gymnasts, Beatrice Tornatore and Francesca Mayer, and Change The Game, an Italian association campaigning against emotional, physical and sexual abuse and violence in sports.
Maccarani has denied the charges. Five gymnasts who trained with her submitted statements in her defense at a preliminary hearing in September.
Change The Game founder Daniela Simonetti told AFP the trial throws into “question methods that often cause pain, devastation, and significant consequences for boys and girls in general.”
“This trial is linked to a way of thinking, a way of understanding sport, a way of managing young athletes.
“The expectation is that there will be a real debate around this, whether these methods are right or wrong,” she said.
Episodes of alleged abuse in the discipline have come under growing scrutiny, particularly following a sexual abuse scandal in the late 2010s, which saw former Team USA doctor Larry Nassar convicted of molesting girls.
Vulnerable
The Olympics Committee has given more attention to mental health in recent years in a bid to protect athlete wellbeing.
While the discipline is not featured at the Winter Games, the world’s top gymnasts are preparing for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Coach Maccarani, 59, led Italy to the top of a sport traditionally dominated by countries from the former Soviet bloc.
But during her near three-decade reign at the Italian team’s National Training Center in Desio, not far from Monza, days began with gymnasts being weighed in front of one another.
Often a long way from their families and barely out of childhood, they were vulnerable.
Some took laxatives and weighed themselves obsessively. One world champion reported being berated for eating a pear.
The affair appeared to be over in September 2023 when Maccarani was given a simple warning by the disciplinary tribunal of the country’s gymnastics federation (FGI) and handed back the reins of the national team, nicknamed the “Butterflies.”
But in March last year the FGI, under new president Andrea Facci, sacked Maccarani.
The FGI’s official explanation to AFP at the time of her dismissal was that the organization wanted to “open a new cycle in preparation for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.”
Corradini, whose testimony led the Monza prosecutor’s office to open an investigation, told AFP last year she was happy for “the young athletes who will now join the national team and who will surely have a different experience.”
