One teenager was shot and killed and at least 18 others injured in the northern Egyptian city of Port Said in clashes that erupted between security forces and thousands of angry soccer fans.
Large-scale protests began late Friday after the Egyptian Football Association said the Al-Masry soccer club would be banned for two seasons and Port Said Stadium closed for three years in response to a deadly soccer riot last month. Clashes continued into Saturday, with security officials firing shots into the air to disperse thousands of people blocking roads and protesting outside the Suez Canal Authority building.
The teenager was reportedly shot in the back, though further details about the incident are not immediately available.
Protesters are also denouncing what they say is a media smear campaign against their soccer club. Seventy-four people were killed in the February riot that started on the Al-Masry playing field moments after the final whistle in a league match between Cairo club Al-Ahly, the most popular in Egypt, and Al-Masry.
Witnesses of the violence say security officials stood by as supporters of the winning home team, Al-Masry, attacked fans of the opposing team, stabbing them and throwing them off bleachers. Panicked fans rushed for the exits and some were crushed against locked gates.
Seventy-five people, including nine senior police officers and three officials from the Al-Masry football club, are facing criminal trial for the violence.
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