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Egyptian court sentences 11 people to death in retrial over deadly 2012 soccer riot

Associated Press
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Families and supporters of the Al-Ahly club hold up a poster with the photos of victims as they await the verdict of the death sentences against 11 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, outside a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 9, 2015. A criminal court in Egypt's coastal city of Port Said on Tuesday sentenced 11 people to death over a 2012 soccer riot that left more than 70 dead and several hundreds injured. Arabic reads: 'We will not forget you'. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

A supporter of the Al-Ahly club awaits the verdict against 11 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, outside a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 9, 2015. A criminal court in Egypt's coastal city of Port Said on Tuesday sentenced 11 people to death over a 2012 soccer riot that left more than 70 dead and several hundreds injured. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

A mother of a supporter of the Al-Ahly club waits to hear the verdict against 11 people for their role in a deadly 2012 soccer riot that killed more than 70 people in the city of Port Said, outside a police academy on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt, Tuesday, June 9, 2015. A criminal court in Egypt's coastal city of Port Said on Tuesday sentenced 11 people to death over a 2012 soccer riot that left more than 70 dead and several hundreds injured. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar) (The Associated Press)

A criminal court in Egypt's coastal city of Port Said has sentenced 11 people to death over a 2012 soccer riot that left more than 70 dead and several hundreds injured.

Tuesday's verdict came at the end of the retrial of 73 defendants in a case that sparked deadly riots in 2013 in Port Said, prompting then-President Mohammed Morsi to declare a state of emergency in the city.

Also Tuesday, the court sentenced 40 defendants to up to 15 years in prison and acquitted the rest.

The verdicts can be appealed.

The February 2012 riot began at the end of a league match in Port Said between Cairo's al-Ahly, Egypt's most successful club, and home side el-Masry. It was Egypt's worst soccer disaster and among the world's deadliest.