Egyptian football bloodshed was 'sheer butchery', says Ex-Spurs ace

London - Former Tottenham Hotspurs midfielder Hossam Ghaly has said he fled from Wednesday night's nightmare Egyptian football riot and termed the scenes during the riots as 'sheer butchery'.

Ghaly, captain of Al-Ahly, which was defeated away during the match against Al-Masry, said he dreaded for his life once the riots started.

He also accused rival team's supporters of provoking the supporters of his team.

"Our supporters were provoked by the local Al-Masry fans who suddenly jumped on to the field," The Sun quoted Ghaly, as saying.

"We raced for the dressing room but there were so many people in the way with knives in their hands. We received blows, kicks and elbows."

Ghaly described the mayhem as a nightmare and added that he had never seen such a thing ever in his life.

"It was all-out aggression, a real fight. It was a nightmare. It was war. I've never known anything like it. Egyptian football has a bad reputation for hooliganism but this was sheer butchery," he added.

Ghaly made 34 appearances for Spurs between 2006 and 2009.

He said the attack was well planned and the atmosphere throughout the match was quite hostile.

"The match was full of tension with insults exchanged between both sets of fans. There was nothing unlucky about all this - it was all premeditated. Our squad decided to stay inside afterwards. Within

minutes police and doctors came in with wounded people and some dead."
 
"It was hell - the worst experience of my life. It was just a match for us and we got caught up in a war," he added.