The match and the violence
On February 1, 2012, Al Masry defeated Al Ahly in Port Said. Immediately after the match, large numbers of people entered the pitch and violence spread through the stadium. Al Ahly supporters were attacked and many others were caught in dangerous crowd movement and blocked or congested exit routes.
The death toll was among the worst in the history of football-related violence. Contemporary and later Egyptian reporting has not always used the same final number. Ahram Online reported 74 deaths in several accounts of the criminal proceedings, while other Ahram summaries and international coverage used 72. The archive therefore describes the event as killing more than 70 people and identifies the source when a specific number is used.
Charges against civilians, police and officials
Prosecutors charged 73 defendants, including police officers and officials connected to the stadium and Al Masry club. Charges included premeditated murder, attempted murder, robbery, vandalism and use of force. The inclusion of officials did not mean that all were accused of personally killing victims; the prosecution and later judgments distinguished direct violence from failures of security and safety responsibility.
A first verdict, then retrials
The first major judgment in 2013 imposed 21 death sentences alongside prison terms and acquittals. Appeals led to retrials and a substantially revised set of outcomes. In June 2015, the retrial court sentenced 11 defendants to death, imposed prison terms ranging from one year to 15 years on others and acquitted 21 defendants. Defendants tried in absentia who later appeared before the court were entitled to retrial under Egyptian procedure.
That procedural history matters: the 2013 result should not be presented as the final legal status of every defendant, because the case moved through additional trials and appeals.
The final Court of Cassation ruling
On February 20, 2017, Egypt's Court of Cassation issued the final ruling for the principal group before it. The court upheld death sentences for 10 defendants. One defendant who had been convicted in absentia was ordered to face a retrial rather than being treated as finally condemned through the same ruling.
The final case also included prison terms of varying lengths and acquittals. Ahram's reporting records 10 defendants receiving 15-year sentences, 15 receiving 10-year sentences, additional defendants receiving five-year sentences and one receiving a one-year sentence, while 21 were acquitted in the retrial structure. Because the litigation involved different procedural tracks, this page avoids compressing all defendants into a single label.
Accountability for security failures
Later civil litigation and reporting also referred to final convictions for negligence against stadium or security officials whose failures were found to have contributed to the disaster. Those findings are legally distinct from the murder convictions against defendants found responsible for violent acts.
Timeline
February 1, 2012: mass violence follows the Al Masry–Al Ahly match in Port Said; more than 70 people are killed.
2012: prosecutors charge 73 defendants, including civilians, police officers and club or stadium officials.
March 9, 2013: the first major judgment imposes 21 death sentences, multiple prison terms and acquittals.
June 2015: a retrial produces revised sentences, including 11 death sentences and 21 acquittals.
February 20, 2017: the Court of Cassation issues a final ruling upholding 10 death sentences and numerous prison terms; a defendant convicted in absentia is directed to retrial.
Current status
The case is classified here as Solved / Adjudicated because final Egyptian appellate judgments established criminal responsibility for multiple defendants. That classification does not erase the differing outcomes among defendants or broader public debate over institutional responsibility for the disaster.