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An Egyptian court confirmed on Saturday death sentences on 21 soccer fans for their role in a stadium riot in Port Said last year, a case which has provoked deadly clashes in the Suez Canal city, the Voice of Russia reported. 

The stadium deaths occurred in February 2012 at the end of a match between Cairo's Al-Ahly and Al-Masry, the local side, and have been a flashpoint for protests.

Unrest has plagued Port Said since the death sentences were first announced on Jan. 26, with local residents who want the fans spared fighting pitched battles with police. At least eight people have been killed this week, including three policemen.

The case has highlighted worsening law and order in much of Egypt since the overthrow of former President Hosni Mubarak two years ago.

The Islamist government of President Mohamed Mursi is struggling to halt the slide in security, hampered by a strike by some police in protests that are likely to be fuelled by Saturday's jail sentences for the senior officers.

Listing the names of the 21 fans, the judge said the Cairo court had confirmed "the death penalty by hanging." In a ruling on live TV, the court also sentenced five more people to life in jail for the riot and acquitted 28. Others out of a total of 73 defendants received shorter jail sentences.