The 18th round of the Egyptian Premier League will be delayed for an indefinite period due to security concerns, Egyptian Sports Minister El-Amry Farouq announced Monday.
"The interior ministry has informed the sports ministry and the EFA of its refusal to secure any football matches in the current period," Farouq told reporters on Monday.
"We have returned to square one," he added. "I have serious reservations about this decision."
The move comes as a result of bad fan behaviour during the previous round's matches, when fans of Ahly, Zamalek, Ismaily and Ittihad of Alexandria all violated crowd bans.
Spectators are currently prohibited from attending Egyptian football matches due to security concerns following last year's Port Said stadium disaster, which left more than 70 people dead and hundreds injured.
The EFA, meanwhile, has fined the four clubs LE100,000 each for crowd disturbances during the league's 17th round.
The EFA announced last Wednesday that the 17th round would be delayed due to security concerns, before reversing its decision one day later.
(For more sports news and updates, follow Ahram Online Sports on Twitter at @AO Sports and on Facebook at AhramOnlineSports)
Short link: