File Photo: Team players of the Egyptian Al-Ahly club run for safety during clashes following their soccer match against Al-Masry club at the soccer stadium in Port Said, Egypt Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2012 (Photo: AP)
Tens of martyrs' families stormed Ahly offices Tuesday morning demanding the club's board and football team not to play their next league match against Port Said's side, Masry.
The Masry – Ahly encounter will be the first meeting between the bitter rivals since the Port-Said tragedy that left some 74 Ultras Ahly fans killed back in February 2012.
The rematch between the two has been scheduled for 10 January, behind closed doors at Gouna stadium, after the match had been initially been postponed due to security reasons.
Ahly were supposed to visit Masry on 20 December, only for the fixture to be delayed by the Egyptian football governing body to 3 January at the request of the interior ministry.
The reason behind the postponement was believed to be the fear of a potential escalation of tensions, as the date of the match was set to coincide with the verdict of the deadly Port-Said disaster case.
An initial verdict of the Port-Said disaster that was issued last year sentenced 21 defendants to death and five to life in prison.
Ahly are fourth in the League table with 27 points, seven points ahead of Masry who lie at 13 place.
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