Mohamed Aboutrika - Personal Life

Personal Life

Aboutrika is a graduate of Cairo University with a bachelor of arts degree in Philosophy. He is married and has twins, Ahmed and Seif, and Roqaya.

After winning the title of African Champions League 2006 for Al-Ahly, he gave a declaration which had been chosen by many newspapers and programs as 'The Declaration of the year'. When newspapers reporters praised him and his goal which they considered the main reason for winning the tournament, he replied, "We need to stop this habit of praising a definite player. It isn't Aboutrika, but the whole team who got the Cup. Without the others' efforts, I can't ever make anything. Football is a game played by many players, it isn't Tennis or Squash."

Hassan El-Shazli, the former famous Egyptian player, was the first one to discover Aboutrika's talent and develop it. He narrates a story about Aboutrika's manners when he was in Tersana. He said that when the chairman of Tersana club wanted Aboutrika and a team-mate defender to sign their new contracts, he put a very high salary for Aboutrika compared to that of his team-mate but Aboutrika refused to sign, and insisted to take the same salary as his team-mate although it was much lower. El-Shazli's attempts failed to persuade Aboutrika that his role for the club is much greater than this defender, and finally, Aboutrika insisted on equality and signed his contract as lower as his team-mate.

Humanitarian Role

As his soccer star status grew in Africa, he turned his sights to humanitarian issues. Aboutrika says:

“Every athlete has a humanitarian role in society. He doesn't live solely for himself, but for others too. I like to participate in charity work and try my best to help the poor and penniless. I'm also seeking to use soccer in humanitarian work."

Based on that idea, Aboutrika joined UNDP Goodwill Ambassadors the Brazilian player Ronaldo, and French player, Zinedine Zidane, in addition to 40 international soccer stars in 2005 for a ‘Match Against Poverty’ in Germany, with the aim of raising funds and increasing awareness about the issue worldwide. He scored in that match.

“In that humanitarian match, sports people said ‘no to poverty’ in one strong voice, standing up to beat it once and for all," Aboutrika explains. The match was held in Düsseldorf, Germany with the support of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association FIFA.

One of Aboutrika’s soccer role models, is the Egyptian player, Mahmoud El Khatib. Meanwhile, off the pitch he follows the example of the Prophet Mohammed.

He volunteered to appear in a WFP 30-second Public Service Announcement (PSA) in which he draws attention to the tragic fact that 25,000 people die from hunger every day, 18,000 of them children.

“Hunger takes away a child every five seconds. We have to move immediately and lend each other a hand because every second counts. This is a game we have to win,” Aboutrika said in the PSA. The PSA is being aired on Middle Eastern TV stations which are broadcasting it for free.

Aboutrika is a WFP Ambassador Against Hunger. He believes that poverty is a double-edged sword, as it can either give rise to feelings of despair, or help the poor person to persevere and be determined. Aboutrika wishes that all those who suffer from despair could develop determination and face their difficulties with strength.

"Islam deals with the problem of poverty through zakat (spending a fixed portion of one's wealth for the poor or needy), where the rich feel the plight of the poor," says Aboutrika. "We have to help the poor as much as we can so that they don’t feel alienated in their own society" he says.

Aboutrika volunteered for another PSA in Egypt, for helping children with cancer. He made it for free, and donated funds to help build a hospital for them.

In January 2007, Aboutrika led the Blood Donation Campaign held by Egyptian Ministry of Health. He appeared in PSAs for free and donated with his blood.

Sympathy with Gaza

After scoring a goal in Egypt's 3-0 over Sudan in the 2008 African Cup of Nations Aboutrika removed his jersey to show a T-shirt reading "Sympathize with Gaza". He was protesting against Israel's 10-day blockade of Gaza. He was given a yellow card for breaking FIFA's rule against displaying political slogans during play, and was said to face possible further sanctions, but finally CAF made no punishments.

Aboutrika initially did not want to discuss the issue, but he broke his silence and spoke exclusively Al Jazeera's Carrie Brown. He said that his action was a personal statement from himself, as he feels much sympathy for the children of Gaza Strip who are under siege. He feels sorry for their starving and suffering, and has many worries about their safety. Aboutrika affirmed for the Egyptian Football Federation that he is responsible for any problems appearing on surface. In the months and years since the Carrie Brown/Aboutrika interview, much has been made as to the true meanings of Aboutrika's statement.

Some Arab commentators describes this yellow card as a 'honourable punishment' for any athlete. In Gaza, Palestinian people went out, raising Aboutrika's photos thanking him and appreciating his act. The same scene was replied after the final match, when Aboutrika scored the winning goal for Egypt, many Palestinians went out to celebrate the victory and singing for Aboutrika. Al-Hilal club in the Gaza Strip made an honouring ceremony for Aboutrika where youth team players lift flags reading "Palestine loves Aboutrika ", "Aboutrika is my idol", "Aboutrika, the humanitarian player..Gaza won't forget you" and "Aboutrika, an example of freedom and dignity". Youth team players were wearing Aboutrika 's No22.

Supporting Ultras Ahlawy

Breaking with the tradition of soccer players standing on the sidelines of popular revolts in the Middle East and North Africa, if not supporting autocratic leaders, Aboutrika announced late that he would not be joining his fellow Al Ahly players on 9 September 2012 in Egypt Super Cup final against ENPPI, Egypt’s first domestic match since this month’s lifting of a seven-month ban on professional soccer.

In doing so Aboutrika one of Egypt’s most popular players, sided with Ultras Ahlawy, the club’s militant, highly politicized, well organized, street-battle hardened support group. The group opposes the resumption of soccer as long as justice has not been done for the 74 Ahly supporters who were killed in February Egypt’s worst sporting incident in a politically loaded brawl in the Suez Canal city of Port Said and fans are not allowed to attend matches.

The brawl, which widely is believed to have been provoked by security forces in a bid to punish the ultras for their key role in the ousting of president Hosni Mubarak and violent opposition to the military that ruled Egypt until the election in July of president Mohammed Morsi in the country’s first democratic poll, sparked the banning of soccer for most of this year.