FIFA assures Ghana over Cairo security

FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
| credits: File copy

FIFA assured Ghana officials on Monday that security “guarantees” are in place for next week’s World Cup playoff in Egypt. The assurance comes a day after police and fans clashed in Cairo at the African Champions League final.

Plans for the playoff were unchanged after FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke met Sports Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah and Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi in Togo. Ghana leads 6-1 entering the second leg on Nov. 19.

“The security guarantees and security plan by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior will take into account the provisions laid down in the FIFA stadium safety and security regulations,” soccer’s governing body said in a statement.

The Ghana federation cited a letter from Valcke saying there will be police escorts for players and officials in Cairo and “sufficient” security at team hotels and practice sites.

Trouble flared on Sunday outside a different stadium in Cairo before Egypt’s Al Ahly beat South Africa’s Orlando Pirates in the African Champions League final. No injuries were reported, although police fired tear gas at hundreds of rioting Al Ahly fans before the game.

Ghana has said it fears its delegation will be caught up in possible protests by Egyptian fans against the military leadership when Egypt hosts Ghana at the military-owned 30 June Stadium. It’s the first international game in the capital since 2011, the year former President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power.

Sunday’s second leg of the African club final was the first major match in Cairo — and anywhere in Egypt — where so many fans had been allowed into a stadium since the Port Said disaster in 2012 when 74 people, mostly Ahly fans, died in a soccer riot at a game.