Zwischen Eigentor und Aufstand
Solidarity with our friend and comrade in Bremen,
who has been taken into custody and been charged
because he is reputed to have fought with nazi scum.
Anti-fascism is always self-defense.
Repression is their weapon – solidarity is our strength.
#freevalentin
Quelle: Alerta Network, 06. Juli 2015
Von Alessandro Accorsi und Max Siegelbaum
Egypt’s diehard football fan organisation, the Ultras, was banned last month
On 16 May 2015, Cairo’s Court of Urgent Matters ordered the dismantling of the Ultras, the countrywide network of groups of devoted soccer fans. The court banned all their activities, inside and outside the football stadiums, accusing them of complicity in past violence and riots. Egyptian newspapers and international media outlets rushed to report that the Ultras groups were not only banned, but also declared a “terrorist” organisation.
Despite this, Tarek Awady, the lawyer representing the group, whose full name is Ultras White Knights, clarified: “There is no court decision categorising [the Ultras] as a terrorist group.” Rather, “the court banned all the Ultras groups in Egypt and their activities, ordering the seizure of the locations where they meet and of their funds”.
The concept of the Ultras was born in Cairo in 2007. They were young football fans fervently devoted to the Cairo-based al-Ahly and Zamalek football clubs. They formed small Ultras chapters across Cairo and, later, the rest of the country, with a basic hierarchy in place. High-ranking Ultras organised the production of banners for the stadium and practices for their chants, as well as basic choreography. They would record their chants with high-grade audio equipment and release seasonal videos and CDs of the year’s highlights. They sold these recordings, along with team gear, to fund trips within the country and sometimes abroad.
Continue reading “Banning fandom: Football and revolution in Egypt”