40 killed in riots following Egyptian soccer match

Published: 1^st Feb 12 1:32 pm

by Kris Hughes
Network Manager

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Soccer riots are nothing new. Every year, around the world, there are riots in the crowds at professional and club level soccer games that sometimes are terminated in the stands, but often spill out onto the streets surrounding the stadiums– often to a disastrous end.

According to reports, at least 40 people have died in a riot following a match between Al-Masry and Al-Alhy of the Egyptian Soccer League.

Al-Masry fans swarmed the home field after a surprising 3-1 win over Al-Alhy, widely considered to be Egypt’s top team– think Manchester United of Egypt.

Thousands of fans swarmed the field, and several of the 35 dead were security officers at the stadium who were trying to keep the crowd under control.

This is another sad example of how passionate fans can turn into a mob at the drop of a hat. Regardless of the best intentions of stadium security– and the crowd control plans they had in place– it is impossible to stop the “mob mentality” once it is kick-started.

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