CAIRO - Eleven men were sentenced to death on Tuesday for their part in a violent riot at an Egyptian soccer stadium which killed more than 70 fans and injured at least 1,000.
Many of the dead were crushed when panicked fans tried to escape from the Port Said stadium after a post-match pitch invasion by supporters of local team Al-Masry in 2012.
The court sentenced one of the men to death in absentia. Ten men got 15 years in jail, 14 were sentenced to 10 years, and 15 men received a five-year sentence. Twenty-one people were found innocent. The verdicts can be appealed.
Yasser Sayed Ahmed, a lawyer for the family of one of the victims, hailed the ruling as "extremely fair and satisfactory."
Soccer matches are often a flashpoint for violence in Egypt. The teams in the Port Said incident — Al-Masry and Cairo's Al-Ahli — are longtime rivals. Witnesses said the rioting broke out after Cairo fans unfurled banners insulting the local team, which had won the match 3-1.