Egyptian soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
Egypt: Angry fans torch soccer federation
Egyptian soccer fans of the Al-Ahly club celebrate in front of their club in Cairo, Egypt, after an Egyptian court confirmed death sentences against 21 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, Saturday, March 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
AP /
March 9, 2013
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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.
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