Ahly have insisted their match with TP Mazembe in the CAF Champions League on 8 July willl take place in Cairo, despite security concerns.

DR Congo's Mazembe have asked the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to move the match to a neutral country but the Cairo-based club has said it wants to play the match at its home ground.  

“We confirm that the country is safe and there no security worries about holding the game in Cairo,” Ahly football director Sayed Abdel-Hafiz was quoted as saying on the club’s official website.

“It’s up to the CAF to hold the match in Egypt or not and we trust their decision,” Abdel-Hafiz concluded.

Along with Mazembe, the Reds, winners of six Champions League titles, are drawn in Group B with archrivals Zamalek and Ghana’s Chelsea.

All domestic football activities were suspended on 1 February when scores died and hundreds were injured at the Port Said Stadium following clashes between Ahly and Masry fans. Fans have been banned from all matches, even internationals, since then.

Egypt has been unstable since the ousting of Hosni Mubarak in a popular uprising in early 2011. The Muslim Brotherhood's Mohamed Morsi or Mubarak's last premier, Ahmed Shafiq, will be announced president by the country's electoral commission on Sunday at 3pm.

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