Egypt skipper Ahmed Hassan has led hundreds of protesters calling for the Egyptian Premier League season to begin.

“We are heading to the presidential palace now. The protest can be turned into a sit-in if our demands aren’t fulfilled,” the Zamalek star told reporters during the protest in Cairo’s Nasr City on Sunday.

All football competitions have been suspended in Egypt since 1 February when 72 Ahly supporters died during clashes with rival Masry supporters at the Port Said Stadium.

The league was due to start this month but the security authorities postponed it after Ahly’s hardcore fans, Ultras Ahlawy, vowed to storm any match that took place before verdicts were reached in the trials of defendants accused of playing a role in the Port Said tragedy.

The new board of the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), under the chairmanship of Gamal Allam, has repeatedly promised to resume the league because “millions of families earn their livings” from football.

Nine senior police officers and three Masry officials are among the 73 people facing trial for their alleged involvement in the Port Said  tragedy.

The protest was attended by former EFA deputy chairman Ahmed Shobeir and many footballers, including Zamalek assistant coach Osama Nabih, players Mahmoud Fathallah, Ahmed El-Shennawy, Mohamed Said ‘Otta’, ENPPI’s Mohamed Abdel Monsif and Ahmed Eid Abdel-Malek of Haras El-Hodoud.

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