Appeals regarding the 2012 Port Said football massacre will be determined on 6 February, Egypt's Court of Cassation reported on Thursday.

The court will give its verdict on appeals from both the prosecution and defendants.

The case involves the death of over 70 Ahly football fans in February 2012 at a Premier League match in Port Said.

In March of that year, a Port Said criminal handed out death sentences to 21 football fans from the rival team, Masry. It also gave 24 other defendants, among them two policemen, sentences ranging from one year to life in prison.

Twenty-eight other defendants, including seven security officials, were acquitted.

Both the defendants and the prosecution appealed the verdict, which sparked protests and violence in the city, a port town located on the Suez Canal.

February's verdict will either uphold that of the Port Said court, or accept the appeals and order a retrial in front of a new court.