The Committee for Justice (CFJ) has documented the continued pretrial detention of dozens of Al Ahly football club supporters, despite recent public promises to intervene and resolve the issue, with no tangible progress observed on the ground to date.
According to CFJ’s findings, these promises followed statements made by businessman Yassin Mansour on October 20, 2025, which were later reinforced by the Al Ahly club administration, expressing its intention to intervene and communicate to resolve the crisis of detained fans after more than two years of silence. However, these statements have not translated into practical measures, as the detainees remain in pretrial custody to this day.
CFJ notes that the number of Al Ahly fans currently detained stands at 37, spread across 12 cases under the jurisdiction of the Supreme State Security Prosecution. They were arrested at different times and locations, without any public allegations of violent acts or serious offenses, raising serious questions about the prolonged nature of their detention.
The Committee stresses that the continued detention of these young individuals, while others in similar cases have been released, constitutes a violation of the principle of equality before the law and undermines constitutionally guaranteed rights, foremost among them the right to liberty and protection against arbitrary use of pretrial detention.
CFJ calls on the competent authorities to urgently intervene to end the suffering of the detained Al Ahly fans and secure their immediate release, while reviewing extended pretrial detention policies to ensure it is not misused as a disguised punishment against youth for exercising their right to support and sports affiliation.
