The Associated Press reports: Egyptians ranging from football fans to MPs have blamed the military rulers for the bloody post-match riot that left scores of people dead.

Police were criticised for failing to stop the violence on Wednesday night which led to a crush in a narrow exit at the stadium in Port Said, north of the capital, Cairo.

A network of football fans known as Ultras vowed to exact revenge, accusing the police of intentionally letting rival fans attack them because they have been at the forefront of pro-democracry protests over the past year, first against Hosni Mubarak and now the military.

Thousands of protesters converged on Cairo’s Tahrir Square – the epicentre of the uprising that ousted the Egyptian president last year – carrying the red flag of the city’s Al Ahly football club and the national banner. They then marched to the nearby interior ministry to protest against the police inaction and call for retribution for the 74 people who died in the world’s most deadly football violence in 15 years.

The protesters raised flags of Al Ahly and Zamalek, a rival Cairo club, and Egyptian flags. Some held black banners reading: “Mourning.”