Egyptian court sentences 11 to death following 2012 football stadium riot which left more than 70 people dead
73 defendants are on trial over one of the worst football disaster in Egyptian history
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Your support makes all the difference.Eleven football fans have been sentenced to death at the retrial of 73 defendants accused over a riot at a football stadium that left 74 people dead and at least 1,000 injured.
The defendants are accused of having been involved in the deaths of panicked fans who were crushed while trying to escape the Port Said stadium during a post-match invasion in 2012.
The case is known as one of the worst sports related riot in the country's history.
Judge Mohammed el-Said has said his final ruling for the 11 and the other defendants, who include nine police officers, will come on 30 May.
The postponement is due to all death sentences in Egypt requiring the advisory opinion of the country's leading religious authority, the Grand Mufti.
In the first trial in 2013, a total of 21 people were sentenced to death, and seven police officers were aquitted.
The 2013 verdict led to violent protests by fans in Cairo, who torched a police club and the headquarters of the football administration.
An earlier protest outside a prison where the defendants were being held in Port Said led to violent clashes with police which left 40 protesters dead.
The Grand Mufti's decision in the case is not binding, but is needed in order to impose the death sentence.
But the case could be appealed, which could set back the sentence by several years.
Football matches have always been a flashpoint for protesting and riots in Egypt.
Earlier this year 40 people were killed in a riot before a match between two Egyptian Premier League clubs.
Security officials claimed at the time that the fans of one team tried to get in to a game without tickets, prompting stampedes and clashes with police.
Others claim the deaths were caused by authorities only opening one door to let the fans in, which sparked violence in the crowds.
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