When will Egypt's soccer fans be allowed to return?
Whether Egypt's Interior Ministry will lift the ban against club supporters is far from decided.
Egyptian soccer fans are still barred from attending league matches because of deadly clashes at some events in the past few years. However, Minister of Youth and Sports Khaled Abdel Aziz seems optimistic that the ban could be lifted before too long.
His hope might be buoyed by the government's recent decision to emphasize the potential for sports tourism, in a bid to boost the ailing economy, or perhaps he is encouraged by parliament's consideration of a proposed law designed to regulate fan attendance and introduce harsher punishments for those arrested at soccer games.
Under the potential law, anyone who tries to storm or enter events by force would be sentenced to prison or fined no less than 500 Egyptian pounds ($26), or both. The penalty would be doubled for those who commit acts of violence. The same penalties would be applied against those who commit similar acts against security forces. The bill also would punish fans who possess flares or fireworks.
The government imposed the ban in the wake of deadly clashes in 2012 at the Port Said stadium. More than 70 Al-Ahly club fans were killed in post-match riots. After that tragedy, league matches were played in empty stadiums.
