An Egyptian court on Sunday sentenced 11 youths to death for their involvement in the deadliest sport-related incident in the soccer-crazy nation, the 2012 football riots in Port Said in which 74 fans were killed. The sentencing was referred to the Grand Mufti - the country's most senior religious authority who according to Egyptian law must review all death sentences although his decision is not binding.
The court fixed May 30 for the final verdict in the deadly riots that broke out following an Egyptian Premier league between Cairo's El-Ahly and home team Al-Masry in February, 2012. Sunday's sentencing came following a retrial of 73 defendents after an appeals court rejected a lower court's verdict that sentenced 21 people to death for their involvement in the incident.
The court also ordered immediate arrest of seven other defendants in the same case in which 74 young fans of El-Ahly team were killed in the clashes, termed as the deadliest sport-related incident in the country's modern history. Seventy-three defendants were tried in the case, including 9 police personnel and three officials from Al-Masry football team.