Egypt to deport detained Tunisian fans

Egypt’s public prosecutor has ordered the deportation of 14 Tunisian football fans arrested last week after clashes at the end of a continental club match in Cairo.

The group would be deported to Tunisia on Sunday so that “Tunisian authorities take the necessary legal action against them,” public prosecutor Abdel Meguid Mahmud said in a statement on Saturday.

“The decision to release them comes in the framework of the good relationship between Egypt and Tunisia,” he added.

The Tunisians were arrested on October 3 after fighting erupted at the end of Egyptian side Al-Ahly’s 2-1 victory at home to Tunisia’s Esperance in the first leg of their African Champions League semi-final.

An interior ministry official had told AFP the Tunisians had lit flares which are banned in Egypt.

“When police attempted to intervene, they smashed seats and flung them onto the pitch,” the official said after the arrests.

Seven officers, two policemen and a conscript were wounded in the clashes.

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