Egypt soccer riot retaliation for revolution?

A three day period of mourning is underway after a deadly clash between soccer fans.

At least 74 people were killed in rioting after a game between two bitter rivals.

But this was soccer violence with a political overlay, and the rioting in the seaside city of Port Said is raising questions about security in post-Mubarak Egypt.

The police on duty at the Port Said game are being accused of colluding in the violence. They seemed to do nothing to prevent the home team fans from flooding onto the field, and there's a history here.

The Cairo team's fans - known as the Ultras - were heavily involved in Egypt's street revolution and have been heard chanting anti-security forces slogans at other games.

So was this payback? There is a fierce rivalry between the two teams and some sort of trouble was not a surprise. But did the security forces allow and even encourage the attack to happen?

Those are the sort of conspiracy theories now sweeping across Egypt, with the security forces now even more the focus of public anger.

To see the Mark Phillips report, click on the video in the player above.

Mark Phillips

Mark Phillips is the CBS News senior foreign correspondent and has been based in the London Bureau since 1993. He has covered every major international story of the past 35 years, including conflicts in the Middle East, Africa and Europe.