Thousands of angry protesters marched in Cairo on Thursday, blaming Egypt's military for a riot in a soccer stadium that left 74 people dead. The military-backed government promised a full investigation, and the local police chief and the governor of Port Said province on the Mediterranean coast, where the tragedy occurred, resigned. But angry members of Egypt's new parliament accused the military of allowing the violence to unfold unchecked to justify tightening the military's hold on the country. Could this really thwart Egypt's movement toward democracy?
This really threatens the revolution: "This tragedy is not simply a story of a match gone horribly awry," says James M. Dorsey at Foreign Policy. These "militant, highly politicized, violence-prone fan groups" (known as "ultras") who've been blamed for the bloodshed have also clashed with security forces. Now the generals can crack down and solidify their own power, and this time a protest-weary population "will be with them."
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