A football match turned into a violent incident as security forces clashed with football fans who attempted to enter the army-owned stadium without buying tickets. While some media outlets reported that 19 died, government-controlled Al Ahram newspaper reported at least 30. While government officials claimed that the fans died in a stampede, witnesses said that the security forces directly targeted the people to disperse them.

The violence took place ahead of a scheduled match between Zamalek and ENPPI. Despite the increasing tensions in the stadium, the match began. While the match was being played, security forces started dispersing fans outside the stadium by setting up barricades and using tear gas. The Interior Ministry blamed the violence on fans that did not have tickets and tried to push their way in.

"They climbed the fence. Ten were injured in a stampede. The security forces tried to disperse them, the fans fled to the main road and blocked traffic and stopped the bus carrying the Zamalek team. They set fire to a police vehicle. We received reports of fatalities because of a stampede," the ministry said in a statement.

But the Facebook page of the Ultra White Knights, a hardcore Zamalek group, said that members were tear-gassed as they tried to go through a single, small-gated entrance that was opened to allow them into the match.One fan, who spoke to the Associated Press on condition of anonymity out of fear of being targeted by police, said the stampede was caused by the police who fired tear gas into the tightly packed crowd. "Those who fell down could not get back up again," the man said.

Egypt's cabinet has indefinitely suspended the national football league, three years after Egypt witnessed one of the deadliest football riots in the sport's history in Port Said. The cabinet announced the suspension late on Sunday after riot police clashed with hundreds of football fans and fired tear gas to clear a narrow corridor leading to the Air Defense stadium in an eastern Cairo suburb, setting off a deadly stampede.

Egypt last suspended the league in 2012 after 74 fans were killed in rioting at a match in the Suez Canal city of Port Said. That violence sparked widespread outrage at the police and the ruling transitional military council for not doing enough to stop the killings. Fans have only recently been allowed back into stadiums, but authorities continue to limit the number who can attend.

Egypt's public prosecutor has ordered an investigation into the violence. The largely militarized police force is already facing heightened scrutiny following the shooting dead of an unarmed female protester last month in downtown Cairo.

On Monday, the pro-government media and the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police, sought to deflect blame from the security forces. The president of Zamalek, lawyer Mortada Mansour, told a private TV station that the police did not open fire on the club's fans, as was widely reported on social media, and that Sunday's violence was "orchestrated" to foil upcoming parliamentary elections.

Sunday's match, pitting Zamalek of Cairo against ENPPI, kicked off more than an hour behind schedule. Zamalek is leading the league, with ENPPI three points behind in second place. The teams drew 1-1.