CAIRO (AP) – Egyptian authorities have placed one of the country’s all-time greatest soccer players on a terror watch and no-fly list, over accusations he helped finance the Muslim Brotherhood, now banned as a terrorist organization, judicial officials said Wednesday.
Court officials said Wednesday that Mohamed Aboutrika, of Cairo’s Al-Ahly club and the national team, was added last Thursday to a “terrorism list” that includes former president Mohamed Morsi as well as the Brotherhood’s spiritual guide, Mohammed Badie and other leaders from the group.
The Cairo Criminal Court ruling by judge Khalil Abdul Aziz included a travel ban and asset freeze for three years, although the decision could be appealed within 60 days, they said, speaking on condition of anonymity as they weren’t authorized to brief reporters.
Aboutrika already had his assets frozen in 2015 based on suspicions of financing the Brotherhood – which emerged as the country’s dominant political force after Egypt’s 2011 Arab Spring uprising but was later purged when the army overthrew Morsi.
Aboutrika openly sympathized with the Brotherhood, and publicly endorsed Morsi in his successful presidential run in 2012, the pinnacle of a string of Brotherhood electoral victories following the overthrow of longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.