Egypt’s legendary retired footballer Mohamed Aboutrika was sentenced to one year in jail in absentia on Monday for tax evasion.
Cairo misdemeanour court handed Aboutrika the verdict after he was found guilty of evading taxes on earnings of 710,000 Egyptian pounds, about $40,000, for advertisements for a soft drink and a telecom firm in 2008 and 2009.
Aboutrika, who is considered to be one of the most popular players in Egyptian football, has been living in exile since 2013 in Qatar working for beIN Sports TV channel after a court verdict put him on the country’s terror list before the Court of Cassation ordered the removal of his name in July 2018
Despite the court ruling, Trika remains on the country’s terror list as the Cairo Criminal Court reordered placing his name, amongst 1,529 other defendants, on the terror list for five years on April 19.