Story highlights Clashes in 2012 between fans of Egypt's Al-Masry and Al-Ahly soccer clubs left more than 70 dead

Rival fans rushed the field and attacked one another with rocks, knives and swords, witnesses said

Cairo (CNN) An Egyptian court sentenced 11 men to death Tuesday for their involvement in the worst soccer violence in Egypt's history, according to a broadcast on Egyptian state TV.

More than 70 people, some of them children, were killed on February 1, 2012, when fans rioted at a soccer game in the northeastern city of Port Said.

Fans of the hometown Al-Masry club stormed the field after securing a win over Cairo's Al-Ahly club. Horrified witnesses described how police officers stood by and watched as rival fans attacked one another with rocks, knives and swords.

The 11 sentenced to death in a retrial of the case were connected to Al-Masry. They will be able to appeal their sentences, state media reported. Forty other people received prison sentences in the case.

The morning after the riots, the stadium looked like a scene from a horror film, with blood splattered on seats and walls. Dozens of shoes were left near a gate ripped from its hinges by the pressure of a surging crowd trying to escape.

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