Shura council youth committee urges state action against saboteurs

he Shura Council's youth and sports committee urged state action against saboteurs seeking to suspend sport activities. On Saturday, alleged demonstrators torched Police Club in Giza and the building of the Egyptian Football Association and looted cup trophies. Mohamed Hafez, the committee head, said the cups' pillage proves that it is an orchestrated action meant to harm state institutions. He urged the Interior Ministry to bring to justice the "criminal gangs" whose pictures with the stolen trophies were wired on several social networks. Hafez lauded as "wise" the decision of maintaining sport activities, calling for intensifying security on clubs. The fires gutted the two building Saturday after the criminal court upheld a previous death penalty ruling against 21 defendants, sentenced others to terms between 10 years and life imprisonment and acquitted 28 more. The Port Said stadium carnage occurred last year following a soccer match when fans, allegedly of the local al-Masry team, assaulted supporters of rival al-Ahly.