Farayi Mungazi BBC Sport, Cairo

Etoile players being pelted with objects at the Cairo Stadium

Al Ahly fans love to preach to anyone who will listen about their passion and knowledge of the game.

Well, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, I say.

But some of them must hold their heads in collective shame in the wake of the disgraceful scenes that marred Friday's Champions League showdown against Etoile du Sahel of Tunisia.

Enraged and humiliated by their team's stunning 3-1 defeat, the fans pelted Etoile's celebrating players with all kinds of objects in the moments following the final whistle.

And as they went up to the VIP enclosure to receive their medals and the trophy, Etoile players and officials dodged and weaved as bottles, cups and debris rained down on them.

The new African champions were also forced to run for cover as they left the safety of the VIP section after receiving their medals from President Hosni Mubarak.

Throwing objects at your opponents is not a display of football passion

Most of the bottles were plastic, but many were filled with water, making them dangerous weapons.

It should have been a great finale to what has been a thrilling competition all year round but, sadly, the night will now be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

"We feared for our lives," Etoile midfielder Muri Ola Ogunbiyi told BBC Sport as he savoured a third Champions League title, after winning previously with Nigeria's Enyimba in 2003 and 2004.

"It was like dodging bullets," he added, no doubt relieved that although some of his colleagues were hit, nobody was seriously hurt.

Granted, football matches involving Egyptian and Tunisian teams are always a flammable mix, and there was always a chance that defeat for Al Ahly in their own backyard would see an ugly end to the game.

But to see some Egyptian journalists who were sitting in the press area with the rest of us also hurling objects at Etoile players was particularly disgraceful.

What was even more shocking was that a thick line of stewards and police officers just stood by watching, doing absolutely nothing to stop the wave of flying objects.

Worse still, bottled drinks are officially banned from the stadium but they were clearly in abundance as Al Ahly's quest for a sixth Champions League title dissolved into a night of utter shame.

It all made a mockery of the airport-like security scanners fans faced before being allowed into the stadium.

This is why the Confederation of African Football must allay deep suspicions about its willingness to punish a club of Ahly's exalted status and throw the book at the Cairo giants.