The Interior Ministry cannot guarantee safety during matches. Fans of Cairo's Ahly team want justice for the 74 who died in February in Port Said.

Cairo (AsiaNews/ Agencies) - The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) on Monday announced the postponement of the Premier League football season, which was to start Wednesday, for an indefinite period. In a statement on its official website, the association said it had requested the Interior Ministry's approval to resume matches on 17 October, but did not receive it.

The local football league had been halted since 1 February, after 74 football fans were killed in violence that erupted during a Premier League match between Ahly and Masry teams at Port Said Stadium.

Hardcore Ahly fans have vowed not to allow the league to resume until the case ends, regularly gathering in their thousands to stress their demands.

They have protested and stormed the club several times to object to the resumption of the league before prosecuting suspects involved in the massacre.

Fans have also called for the departure of team chairman Hassan Hamdy, over illegal profiteering from the time he chaired the Al-Ahram's advertising agency.

The die-hard Ahly fans stormed the club's headquarters for the third time in five weeks, marking their growing frustration over the board's failure to shed light on the notorious Port Said case.

According to some eyewitnesses, Cairo fans were attacked by al-Marsy fans with the complicity of organisers and law enforcement.

Others claim that outsiders were involved, possibly the same hooligans behind the anti-Coptic violence at the Maspero building.

The cancellation of matches has caused protests in Egypt's Premiere League, which helps more than 5 million people earn a living. Many teams hoped to solve the financial problems caused by the cancellation of last year's championship with the new season.

Yesterday, the president of Cairo's Zamalek football club demanded the club's archrival Ahly withdraw from the Egyptian league, to allow the league to resume.

"If the sports ministry fail to organise the domestic league, they must compensate us with 12 million Egyptian pounds, to pay the salary bills of the club,'' he said.

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• football
• premiere
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• cancellation
• riots
• death