The Cairo Administrative Court on Monday approved a request by Zamalek football club chairman Mortada Mansour to withdraw a lawsuit he had filled calling for Ultras football fan groups to be listed as terrorist organisations.The chairman, a controversial figure who is often involved in public disputes with Zamalek's hardcore fans, had requested in June that the suit be withdrawn.
The lawsuit, which he filed last year with the Cairo Court for Urgent Matters, requested all Ultras fans groups be labelled as terrorist organisations and disbanded. In his complaint he provided examples of riots such groups were allegedly involved in.
In a ruling on the case in May, the Appeal Court for Urgent Matters banned all Ultras groups and their activities on the basis of the evidence that they were involved in riots, but did not rule the groups to be terrorist organisations.
Ultras groups have maintained a tense relationship with the authorities over the past several years both on and off the field, triggered by their involvement in anti-government protests since the 2011 revolution.
