No sooner had orders been issued by Muslim Brotherhood big shot, Khairat Shater, did chief editor of the “Freedom and Justice” newspaper, Adel Ansari quickly apologize to the ‘Ultras’ members — less than a day after the newspaper criticized them.

Ansari released a statement confirming that “no one can deny or dispute the historical role played by the Ultras youth, alongside other revolutionaries in the January revolution,” adding that, “they belong to a national group of whose patriotism no no one can deny.”

No sooner had orders been issued by Muslim Brotherhood big shot, Khairat Shater, did chief editor of the “Freedom and Justice” newspaper, Adel Ansari quickly apologize to the ‘Ultras’ members — less than a day after the newspaper criticized them.

Ansari released a statement confirming that “no one can deny or dispute the historical role played by the Ultras youth, alongside other revolutionaries in the January revolution,” adding that, “they belong to a national group of whose patriotism no no one can deny.”

The apology was published in the Monday, September 10^th issue. A day before, the newspaper published a headline reading “The Ultras: From Stadium Inspiration to Crisis Development”. A subheading asked “How can we put an end to Ultras rioting?” The article went on to warn against “their change to militias.”

‘Militia formation’ was the accusation Mubarak’s regime had repeatedly leveled against the Muslim Brotherhood, and for which a large number of its leaders were prosecuted. The revolution however has made this group come into power and since then it has been unwaveringly using Mubarak’s laws themselves against its opponents, ranging from “insulting the president” to “provoking sectarian conflicts”.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s newspaper launched an attack on the ‘Ultras’, including a previous attack against ‘April 6^th Youth Movement’ and ‘Socialist Revolutionaries Movement’. Regardless of the different affiliations and size of these three groups, they share a common feature of ‘organization’.

Fierce competition

‘Teamwork’ is a quality Egyptians have always lacked.  A look at Egypt’s modern political history may shed more light on this fact. Division and party fragmentation were characteristic features of political action during Egypt’s Royal and Republican eras that they made “organization force” the most important dynamic in Egyptian politics, followed by ideas, popularity and financial capacity.

That caused the demise of the Egyptian monarchy and evaporation of its parties in the 1952 coup at the hands of the “Free Officers,” which for sixty years had been in conflict with the other iron organization, ‘Muslim Brotherhood’ until the latter assumed power in the aftermath of a revolution that boasted having “no leader or organization.”

The Muslim Brotherhood is preparing to rule Egypt for a long time; however, it looks cautiously at any emerging contesting organization. Although the Ultras have no ideology, their political effectiveness had the greatest influence during the revolution and the subsequent confrontations with the military council generals. They are well-organized, dedicated, courageous, defiant, and experienced in confronting security forces, qualities that make them a nightmare for any president.

Ahly and Zamalek clubs are described as the two major magnets of Egyptian sports. It was not surprising that their fans were the first to introduce Ultras leagues in Egypt, where ‘Zamalek’ Ultras – ‘White Knights’ – and Ahly Ultras – ‘UA-07’ – were  established in 2007.

These organized groups managed for the first time to respond to the fierce police attacks on football fans. But those confrontations soon assumed political implications.

The first such encounter happened in 2009 when the Ultras hoisted slogans of solidarity with the Palestinians during the Israeli attack on Gaza, coded “Operation Cast Lead”. Later that year, they raised slogans criticizing Israel during an Ahly and Ismaili match, followed by a decision to hold a commemorative event to mark the Palestinian uprising during the Ahly and Zamalek match a few days later. But, the police of Mubarak – a close ally of Israel – launched a pre-emptive attack ahead of the match.

In his book titled ‘Ultras’, Mohammed Gamal Bashir writes, “On the eve of the planned match, leaders of the two groups (White Knights and UA-07) were arrested and security forces chased White Knights fans in the streets, and targeted any fan wearing the Ultras uniform inside the stadium.”

The book explains the escalating violence against the Ultras, even after their participation in the revolution, or because of such participation. It describes the period from 2009 to 2011 as being characterized by “assaults, use of violence, arrest, arbitrary detention and prosecuting.”

UA-07 had a horrendous tragedy in Port Said on Wednesday evening of February 1^st when the fans of the host ‘El-Masry Club’ violently attacked the Ahly audience in the stadium. Seventy-four Ahly Ultras fans were killed in those attacks and ensuing stampedes. Although the media described what happened as ‘hooliganism’, it was seen by the Ultras as a retaliatory incident orchestrated by security forces to get rid of the striking force of the revolution’s youth demonstrations.

Trials are still ongoing, where the accused are a mixture of El-Masry club fans and a number of administrative personnel, in addition to few police officers accused of complicity and negligence. The incident resulted in suspending football activity, and when the Football Association decided to start the new season with the ‘Super Cup’ match, the Ahly Ultras challenged that decision, stating that they would boycott any planned matches until ‘criminals are punished’. The Ultras besieged the hotel where the players were staying, and went on foot to the stadium but found thousands of troops. The Football Association insisted on starting the match in a bid to maintain ‘the state prestige’, but that match had to be set up without audience, under police protection and at the furthermost playground from the capital.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s president distanced himself from the crisis, and there were rumors that the Muslim Brotherhood youths had headed to the stadium to protect it from the Ultras, but the group was quick to deny it.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s ‘Freedom and Justice’ newspaper criticized the Ultras, but it had to apologize later in the face of public opinion’s anger because those football enthusiasts gained increasing popularity and influence as well as the support of the revolution devotees.

They have demonstrated a growing capacity for organizational work, manifested in the simultaneous siege they laid to the Football Association’s, Ahly club and the hotel where the Ahly players were staying. The Muslim Brotherhood is keeping a close watch on the Ultras, which are becoming increasingly politicized and more dangerous.