16 fans of Zamalek fans are charged with murder over stampede that led to their colleagues being killed. Meanwhile all evidence suggests the panic outbreak was caused directly by extremely poor crowd management.

Trial over the tragic stampede of February was to begin on Saturday, but was postponed until May 18. Events preceding the Zamalek – Enppi game cost the lives of 19 people as panic broke out in a crowd trying to enter the stadium.

While the panic outbreak was caused by extremely poor crowd management strategy (or lack thereof), it is only Zamalek fans trialed for the deaths. 16 of them are charged with murder, but also arson and rioting in riots fuelled by the tragedy.

Government-controlled media in Egypt, like the Al Ahram, tend to mix fact, calling the stadium riots “deadly”. Meanwhile riots were only the outcome of actual stampede that led to people dying in the streets.

This extremely controversial  trial follows another one widely believed to be mishandled by the Egyptian justice system. 11 out of 73 defendants are expecting death sentence (unless otherwise judged on May 30, when final verdict is expected) for the Port Said massacre of 2012.

Both cases are well evaluated by The Turbulent World of Middle East Soccer, which we highly recommend for further reading.