Cairo: An Egyptian court has added former football star Mohammad Abu Trika to the authorities terror list, his lawyer said, based on suspicions he financed the banned Muslim Brotherhood.In 2015 a government committee froze the assets of the former player for Cairo-based club Al Ahly and Egypts national team, two years after he retired.
The government accuses him of financing the Muslim Brotherhood, which was classified as a terrorist organisation at the end of 2013.
According to an anti-terror law imposed in 2015 by President Abdul Fattah Al Sissi, anyone on the countrys terror list is subject to a travel ban, with their passport and assets liable to be frozen.
Abu Trika, one of the most successful African footballers of his generation, had publicly endorsed the presidential bid of the Muslim Brotherhoods Mohammad Mursi in 2012.
Mursi went on to become Egypts first democratically elected president, only for the army to oust him one year later and ban the Brotherhood.
Abu Trikas lawyer Mohammad Osman said that the courts decision was contrary to the law saying the retired player has not been convicted or formally notified of any of the charges against him.
We will appeal this decision, he said, adding that if he is added to the list there will be many legal consequences, notably the travel ban.
The freeze on Abu Trika assets is still in force, despite two court orders that it be lifted, Osman added.
In an interview with state-run Al Ahram newspaper in May 2015, Abu Trika denied that his company or any of his partners had ever funded the movement.
Since Mursis overthrow, a police crackdown against the Brotherhood has left hundreds dead and thousands jailed.
Abu Trika retired in 2013, and the 37-year-old has since avoided expressing his political views publicly.
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