Rabat \u2013 Former Egyptian football player Ahmed Hossam Mido has defended the behavior of Al Ahly SC supporters after water bottles were thrown at AS FAR players during their CAF Champions League match in Cairo, sparking debate across African football circles.<\/p>\n
On X, Mido described<\/a> the incident as \u201cexpected\u201d given the tense environment surrounding the first-leg clash in Morocco.\u00a0<\/p>\n He wrote: \u201cIn a new episode of our media\u2019s empty idealism, they\u2019re attacking the Al Ahly fans just because they threw water bottles at the ASFAR players, trying to turn football fans into tennis fans on their whim!! A team whose fans insulted our players and pelted them with bottles, and the match was played in Morocco amid a terrorist atmosphere we all followed!!\u201d<\/p>\n Mido also criticized what he called \u201cempty idealism\u201d in media coverage of the event, suggesting that the reaction of Al Ahly supporters was blown out of proportion.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m neither praising what the Al Ahly fans did nor condemning it, but what the fans did was expected, otherwise, they\u2019d be fans who stay up till dawn waiting for Sabalenka in the US Open,\u201d Mido added.<\/p>\n The match in Cairo saw sections of Al Ahly supporters hurl bottles and projectiles at ASFAR players and staff, forcing security personnel to intervene.\u00a0<\/p>\n ASFAR condemned the actions in a statement, calling them a \u201cdirect threat to player safety\u201d and urging the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to enforce sanctions.<\/p>\n