Rabat – Moroccan authorities said 67 people, including 17 minors, were detained on Monday over a riot at a football match the previous day that injured more than 150 people, mostly police.
The violence had erupted at the end of a game between AS FAR, the Rabat-based Moroccan Armed Forces club, and away side Maghreb de Fez (MAS).
When the hosts were beaten 2-0, their ultras invaded the pitch to take on rival supporters, according to local media.
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Police were bombarded with projectiles in violence that injured 103 policemen and 57 supporters, the DGSN security service said Sunday.
Rabat police investigating the violence “remanded 50 adults in custody and detained 17 minors”, a security source told AFP on Monday.
They will be taken to court once the investigation is closed, the source said.
The DGSN had initially arrested 160 people for alleged “violence, possession of knives, drunkenness, throwing stones, causing damage and setting fire to a vehicle”, it said Sunday.
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The Moroccan football federation on Monday fined AS FAR 120 000 dirhams (more than $12 000) and banned its supporters from all its games until the end of the season.
MAS supporters will be banned from its next two matches and it must also pay a 120 000 dirham fine.
Moroccan football supporters have taken part in several similar fights in recent years, including between fans of the country’s two top Casablanca clubs, Wydad and Raja.
After the deaths of two supporters in early 2016, the authorities disbanded groups of ultras and even banned slogans and banners on the terraces.
Ultras were permitted to return to the grounds in March 2018.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pexels
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