Chapter Eight: Media Target Soccer Fans, a Bulwark of Anti-autocratic Resistance

When Sarah Samir stepped in early 2015 on to an Egyptian soccer pitch to referee a men’s match, she joined a small band of Arab women referees staking out their right to be involved in the sport on par with men. The significance of the appearance of Samir, Egypt’s first woman referee, highlighted the battle for the soul of Islam that is being fought on the pitch as much as it is being waged on multiple other fronts. It also constituted an undeclared effort by the government to pit ordinary soccer fans against militant, highly politicised, street battle-hardened supporters who have put their stamp on the sport since 2007 and played a key role in the toppling in 2011 of President Hosni Mubarak and subsequent anti-government protests. The timing of the government move was significant not only because it followed Egyptian General-turned-President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi’s call for a reform of Islam to stem the appeal of jihadism but also coincided with the government’s partial lifting of a 3-year ban on fans attending league matches…