Once driven by loyalty to their favorite football teams and a revolutionary spirit, young football fans have found themselves at risk of being listed as terrorists and their fan clubs, known as Ultras, dissolved by a court verdict.
The Cairo Court of Urgent Affairs decided Saturday that it was not specialized enough to look into the case, despite having previously ordered the ban of the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood and April 6 Youth Movement. The court referred the case to the administrative court for a session to be held on Oct. 18.
There are a number of Ultras fan groups—organized football fan clubs. The two largest support rival teams: Ultras Ahlawy (Ultras UA07) support Al-Ahly team and Ultras White Knights (UWK) support the Zamalek team.
The case concerns the UWK members, but the defense team chose not to attend Saturday’s trial session, their defense lawyer, Tarek al-Awady, told The Cairo Post Saturday. He said he considered the court decision a victory over his opponent, Mortada Mansour, the president of the Zamalek Sports Club.
“We left him at court on his own, and we will do it again for the next trial,” Awady said.
A lawsuit demanding the dissolution of the fan club was filed by Mansour, who has had a long-standing conflict with the group. Mansour also filed another lawsuit accusing the members of trying to break into the Zamalek Club a short while before an attempt on his life Aug. 17, when gunmen opened fire in front of the club.
“Ultras are not terrorists, they are not even a political organization,” Awady told The Cairo Post Thursday.
“I strongly oppose listing Ultras members as terrorists,” head of The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR) and National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) member Hafez Abu Seada told The Cairo Post Thursday, adding that even if they can be blamed for engaging in some violent acts, their violence cannot be compared to that of terrorists.
The Ultras White Knight members, one of Ultras’ largest branches and fans of the Zamalek Sporting Club, are on trial in four different cases this month. “There are currently 37 detained UWK members, the oldest one being 22-years-old,” UWK lawyer Awady said.
Mansour is behind three out of the four cases, as he filed a third lawsuit accusing them of an attempt to storm the club shortly before the alleged attempt on his life. The fourth case concerns nearly 25 UWK members arrested Aug. 28 in clashes with security forces in protests for their friends in Shubra. They are charged with violating the 2013 Protest Law.
Legal Grounds
Two possible flaws may complicate Mansour’s cases: First, the Ultras groups are not official entities that can be dissolved, and second, it is not the specialty of the Court of Urgent Affairs looking into the matter to decide terrorism charges. “This is the decision of a criminal court,” Awady explained.
Demanding the punishment of Ultras groups according to article 86 of the Penal Code, which concerns terrorism and threats to State security, Mansour presented to the court video footage and photos as evidence of sabotage and destructive activities. The videos show alleged Ultras members trying to break into the Al-Ahly Club and burning the headquarters of the Egyptian Football Association, Sada El-Balad news website reported Sept. 14, but Ultras have denied these allegations.
“Mansour’s accusations are the result of a personal conflict, because UWK refused to submit to his authority, choosing to keep an independent identity instead and continue acting for us and for our fans,” Awady said.
But a thin line between supporting football teams and engaging in political activity could be the source of a State crackdown on the young members. UWK’s Sayed Ali, nicknamed the “troublemaker,” has led protests in favor of former Islamist presidential candidate Hazem Abu Ismail.
Recently, several ex-Ultras members told Al-Wafd that the once self-funded groups have become “illusions,” explaining that the Ultras leaders, known as “the capo,” have been taking advantage by mobilizing young members to serve their own political and financial interests.
“There should be other solutions based on communication with the young members to advise them to act peacefully and abstain from violence,” Abu Seada [m1] said.
“Ultras are groups known worldwide and are important for fan clubs and in the sports fields, they are young passionate people, and the sort of violence that surrounds them exists everywhere else in the world,” Abu Seada added.
Political football
For years, Ultras members have clashed with the forces of the Ministry of Interior, which claim they defy the police repeatedly. In public statements, Ultras members always refer to policemen as “thugs,” and Awady said the situation has been the same since the regime of former President Hosni Mubarak’s regime.
“Now it is becoming a political game,” Awady told The Cairo Post. He stated that he himself has become a target of blame, and has accused TV host Ahmed Moussa of leading a defamation campaign linking the UWK lawyer to suspicious political moves to politicize the case.
Awady said that some of his work requires him to travel to Qatar, a country unfriendly with Egypt since the ousting of Mohamed Morsi due to its support of the Muslim Brotherhood and refusal to recognize the legitimacy of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi.
“Accordingly, they want to prove that I am a traitor and declare Ultras a terrorist organization,” Awady added. As for Moussa, several lawsuits were filed against him recently on grounds of slander and misleading allegations.
In the January 25 Revolution of 2011, the Ultras fan groups’ participation increased the motivation of protesters against the regime of Hosni Mubarak, as the young members would enter Tahrir Squarechanting energetically.
“They are to be thanked for their participation, not blamed,” Awady said, adding “Ultras members have different and sometimes conflicting political stances, but do not organize themselves as political forces, nor do they have political demands.”
“We will never accept calling our fans terrorists, and we will continue to demand the return of football supporters to the stadiums,” the club’s president Mahmoud Taher told Al-Wafd Sept. 11.
In October 2013, at least 25 members of Ultras Ahlawy were detained following a scuffle at the Cairo International Airport while the group waited to welcome their team returning home. The Minister of Civil Aviation at the time had dropped charges against the group and mediated between the Ministry of Interior and the families of the detainees.
A continuing security dispute
Among the bloodiest incidents for Ultras UA07 in the aftermath of the revolution was the “Port SaidMassacre” on Feb. 1, 2012, in which more than 70 people were killed. Most were Al-Ahly supporters, and there have been no trials for the perpetrators.
EOHR described the incidents as a “complete crime against Al-Ahly Ultras, who participated in the Egyptian revolution and supported the protesters during hard times, a severe violation of human rights.” In a Feb. 2, 2012 statement they accused security forces of taking revenge on the football fans by “conspiring against national stability before the match, which was evident by the bullets found in the dead bodies of the fans.”
Avenging the “martyrs” has been the Ultras groups’ cause since the incident. On Sept. 19, UWK published a letter by members who had been detained while commemorating the death of Amr Hussein, a UWK member who was shot in a protest in front of the Zamalek Club in September 2013.
“A year ago, we were together side by side, determined by our passion for our club which motivates us. Now you’re in heaven, and we continue the battle to defend our club and fans,” the detainees wrote in a letter, addressing Hussein.
Since the Port Said incidents, the public has been completely banned from entering stadiums. The attendance of supporters at games has been on and off since then. In March 2014, the Ministry of Interior renewed the ban following clashes between Ultras fan clubs and security forces. These incidents include clashes such as those of Ultras Al-Ahly in the Cairo International Stadium during the African Super Cup on Feb. 20, and Zamalek Ultras clashed with State forces in front of the stadium as they tried to attend a match earlier in March of the same year.
Above all, Ultras have strongly rejected the presence of police forces in stadiums and demanded private security companies be in charge of securing football games instead.
“We say it loud; we refuse security force attendance in Egyptian stadiums. The police forces are unable to secure football matches,” a joint statement released on March 15 by seven major Ultras football clubs read.