Hundreds of Egyptian football fans flashed the four-finger Raba'a sign as Al-Ahly took on the Orlando Pirates in an African Championship semi-final match in Johannesburg on Saturday night.

The sign is an indication of opposition to the government of Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi and support for deposed former President Mohamed Morsi.

"We are sending a message to Sissi to stop persecuting members of the Muslim Brotherhood," one Egyptian living in South Africa said, referring to Morsi's supporters. Raba'a protests commemorate the massacre of at least 1,150 Morsi supporters by security forces in Cairo in August 2013. "We are supporters of Al-Ahly but we also wanted to use this opportunity to inform South Africans and the world about the current situation in Egypt," the Egyptian expat, who asked to remain anonymous, added.