FIFA President, Sepp Blatter
FIFA
assured Ghana officials on Monday that security “guarantees” are in
place for next week’s World Cup playoff in Egypt. The assurance comes a
day after police and fans clashed in Cairo at the African Champions
League final.
Plans for the playoff were unchanged
after FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke met Sports Minister Elvis
Afriyie Ankrah and Ghana Football Association President Kwesi Nyantakyi
in Togo. Ghana leads 6-1 entering the second leg on Nov. 19.
“The security guarantees and security
plan by the Egyptian Ministry of Interior will take into account the
provisions laid down in the FIFA stadium safety and security
regulations,” soccer’s governing body said in a statement.
The Ghana federation cited a letter from
Valcke saying there will be police escorts for players and officials in
Cairo and “sufficient” security at team hotels and practice sites.
Trouble flared on Sunday outside a
different stadium in Cairo before Egypt’s Al Ahly beat South Africa’s
Orlando Pirates in the African Champions League final. No injuries were
reported, although police fired tear gas at hundreds of rioting Al Ahly
fans before the game.
Ghana has said it fears its delegation
will be caught up in possible protests by Egyptian fans against the
military leadership when Egypt hosts Ghana at the military-owned 30 June
Stadium. It’s the first international game in the capital since 2011,
the year former President Hosni Mubarak was forced from power.
Sunday’s second leg of the African club
final was the first major match in Cairo — and anywhere in Egypt — where
so many fans had been allowed into a stadium since the Port Said
disaster in 2012 when 74 people, mostly Ahly fans, died in a soccer riot
at a game.
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