Feb. 1, 2016 - Cairo, Egypt - Al Ahly fans, the ''Ultras'', light flares and shout slogans in the club's training stadium, marking the fourth anniversary of killing al-Ahly fans known as the ''Port Said massacre''. Amr Sayed/Zuma Press/Press Association Images. All rights reserved.The Ultras recent re-emergence in a football match between Al-Ahly and Monana was phenomenal. Their famous flames lit up the stadium and their famous song “liberta” resurrected the moribund spirit of the January 2011 revolution.
How could such youngsters emerge again, suddenly and confidently, after years of repression? How could they sustain themselves for more than half a decade of public vilification, massive incarceration, and torturous killing? What is the secret of such extraordinary endurance?
Social movement literature does not seem to take the Ultras seriously. The reasons are plenty; their limited political ambitions and their association over non-political grounds (football) make their struggle seem negligible.
