Defendants charged in relation to the Port Said football riots, which saw 74 football fans killed after a match in 2012, have accused ousted president Mohamed Morsi of being behind the violence.

The football riots, which claimed the lives of 74 fans of Cairo’s Ahly club, took place after a match in Port Said Stadium between Ahly and Port Said’s local team Masry in February 2012, when the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces held power. No Masry fans were killed during the violence.

The defendants exchanged insults with the victims' families at a trial session held by the Port Said Criminal Court on Saturday, reported Al-Ahram Arabic.

One woman at the scene reportedly started screaming and wailing, while defendants who were in the cage for the session also began shouting, accusing Morsi of paying a lot of money to incite the violence, and they also accused the military council of involvement.

Some of the defendants shouted that they were scapegoats "sacrificed by the state." The 73 defendants include nine local security officials and three Masry club officials.  The rest are Masry fans.