African football governing body urged to act over Egypt’s crackdown on pro-Palestine fans

The non-profit organisation FairSquare asked the president of Confederation of African Football to call on Egyptian authorities to drop charges against pro-Palestine spectators and to refrain from mass arrest of peaceful protesters.

Egyptian security forces had detained 250 football fans, the majority of whom are children between the age of 13 to 15, for engaging in peaceful pro-Palestine protests at a Egyptian Premier League match in mid-June. They were released the following day.

FairSquare last week called the banning of Palestinian flags in football stadiums, which was imposed in Egypt among other countries, “a clear violation of the right to freedom of expression”.