Ultras Ahlawy, the team’s core of die-hard fans and (with their counterparts for Zamalek) a principal component of protests against police and army abuses, wore black shirts and unfurled a giant banner to mourn the death of one of their members following the recent clampdown on protesters by the Egyptian army in downtown Cairo.

Mohamed Mostafa, an engineering student and tennis player, died on Wednesday after being shot in the chest during clashes between demonstrators and the army in Qasr El-Ainy, one of the streets leading to Tahrir Square.

Ultras Ahlawy, who denied being involved in the clashes as a group but said its members had the right to participate in demonstrations as individuals, chanted “We will sacrifice our lives for the sake of the martyr”, a few minutes before the start of

Friday’s Egyptian Premier League game against Maqassa at Cairo Stadium.

The Ultras also hurled insults at the military police, while Ahly coach Manuel Jose and his assistants wore a shirt emblazoned with the words “R.I.P Mohamed Mostafa”.

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