Other face of Tahrir

Thursday, November 24, 2011

James M. Dorsey

Hürriyet Daily News

Egyptian demonstrators determined to unseat the country’s military rulers 

have found a battle-ready ally, ultras from the country’s biggest football 

clubs

Egyptian army soldiers stand guard atop a concrete block barricade while protesters chant slogans near Cairo’s Tahrir Square, which is bracing for a ‘last chance’ rally today. AP photo

It was mid-afternoon on Saturday, the 

second day of mass protests in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to demand 

an end to military rule, when a cry went out for help from the 

ultras, Egypt’s militant, violence-prone, highly politicized football 

fans. Under attack by security forces, protesters, unwilling to back

down, were looking at what amounts to the Egyptian revolt’s 

shock troops for protection.

“We initially stayed away when the families of the people killed 

during the uprising went back out to Tahrir. The police violence 

changed our minds. We experienced it first-hand before. We have 

zero tolerance for it,” said Abu Ala, a member of Ultras Ahlawy, 

fans of one of two of Cairo’s biggest clubs, Al Ahly SC.

Abu Ala and members of his arch enemy, Ultras White Knights

(UWK), supporters of Al Ahly’s historic rival, Al Zamalek SC, 

reached Tahrir by late afternoon. It was the second time in the

more than a century-old history of the two clubs that their 

supporters joined forces rather than faced off in violent street 

brawls to face a common enemy: first the autocratic regime of 

President Hosni Mubarak whom they helped topple early this year 

and this week to push for an end to military rule.

“The Central Security Forces had run the protesters out of Tahrir 

Square,” recalls Hassan Sharif, a protester who has been in Tahrir since 

the protests erupted a week ago. “Security forces had occupied the 

roundabout. The Ultras White Knights charged from the museum, 

yelling the chant about how they’ll f*ck the CSF up.”

Within an hour, the security forces had pulled back, only to return on 

Sunday backed by military police who briefly retook the Square. The 

battle has been raging since.

Led by ultras – angry young men with no political affiliations and 

warrior-like zeal – armed with rocks and Molotov cocktails, they have 

been battling security forces for almost a week now in the streets around 

Tahrir as they fight amid the wail of ambulances and the roar of armored 

vehicles, so far unsuccessfully, to make their way to the Interior Ministry, 

home to the hated security forces. “A red line has been crossed, there is no 

turning back. It doesn’t matter what price we pay in lives. We are not 

giving in,” vowed one ultra while speaking on a mobile phone, the sound 

of a street battle punctuating his words

Unlike other groups in Tahrir, the ultras are respected and celebrated 

by the protesters and feared by the security forces. Modeled on groups

 in Italy and Serbia, the ultras – self-defined anarchists whose militant 

support for their clubs is expressed with chanting, jumping up and 

down, fireworks, flares and smoke guns – the ultras were early this year

(and now again) the only group in Tahrir with years of street-battle 

experience garnered in weekly battles in the stadiums with security 

forces and the supporters of their rivals.

Their fearlessness, willingness to put their lives on the line and battle 

tactics gave protesters a sense of power and the courage to stand their 

man alongside the ultras.

Beyond the more than 30 people already killed in the last week and 

the more than 1,500 wounded, football may be another victim of 

the battle for Egypt’s future. Like in January when Egypt’s premier 

league was suspended for three months to prevent the pitch from 

becoming an opposition rallying point, the Egyptian Football 

Association (EFA) is considering cancelling the kick-off of 

next month’s season. “What is happening now in Egypt is 

spoiling our football,” said EFA President Samir Zaher, a 

Mubarak-era appointee whose resignation the ultras have been 

demanding for months.

That is a price the ultras were willing to pay early this year and are 

happy to pay again. “The blood of the martyrs won’t be for free,” 

chanted Nader el-Sayed, a former Egypt goalkeeper, the only player

 to have joined protesters early this year. He is now back in Tahrir Square.

BOTH SIDES OF THE COIN

Al Ahly and Zamalek are two sides of Egypt’s most heated football 

rivalry, one of the fiercest in the world.

The teams are the most successful in Egypt, with the clubs having won 

47 of the 55 seasons in the Premier League. Al Ahly is dominant with 

36 titles as opposed to Zamalek’s 11.

Fan violence is a regular part of that rivalry, while matches between 

the two sides can be so controversial that the Egyptian Football 

Federation usually hires a foreign referee to officiate the game.

Like many football rivalries, the divide between the opposing sides has 

its roots in social life. Zamalek are seen as aristocrats of the domestic 

gameand a team of “foreigners,” while Al Ahly, which translates as 

“The National,” is usually seen as the team of the common Egyptian.

Thursday, November 24, 2011