On September 3, Egypt’s tax evasion court is to resume the trial of ex-footballer Mohamed Aboutrika for tax evasion of LE710,000, an amount incurred by advertisements for a soft drink company, and a telecommunications company.
Public Prosecutor Nabil Ahmed Sadiq had approved the tax evasion prosecutor’s decision to refer Aboutrika to trial during the period 2008-2009.
In 2015, a government committee froze the assets of Aboutrika, who had played for Cairo-based club Al-Ahly and Egypt’s national team, two years after he retired.
Egypt’s government accuses Aboutrika of financing the Brotherhood, which it classified as a terrorist organisation in late 2013.
According to an “anti-terror law” imposed in 2015 by President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, anyone on the country’s terror list is subject to a travel ban, and their passport and assets are liable to be frozen.
Aboutrika, one of the most successful African footballers of his generation, had publicly endorsed the presidential bid of Mohamed Morsi in 2012.
In an interview with state-run newspaper Al-Ahram in May 2015, Aboutrika denied that his company — or any of his partners — ever funded the Islamist movement.
Aboutrika retired in 2013, and the 37-year-old has since avoided expressing his political views publicly.
Edited translation from Al-Masry Al-Youm.
