Egyptian soccer player investigated for backing ousted president Mursi

Tuesday 12-11-2013 10:31 AM
Egyptian soccer player investigated for backing ousted president Mursi

Members of the Egyptian football team celebrate victory of the African Cup in Ghana in 2010 - Reuters

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CAIRO, Nov 12 (Reuters) - A leading Egyptian football club has launched an investigation into one of its players after he showed support for ousted Islamist President Mohamed Mursi.

Egypt's soccer federation said it would ban the player, Ahmed Abdel Zaher, from competing until an investigation is completed.

After scoring a goal, Zaher displayed the four-finger Muslim Brotherhood signal that symbolises a raid by security forces on a pro-Mursi protest camp in Cairo in August that killed hundreds of Islamists.

The army overthrew Mursi on July 3 and installed an interim government. It has since launched a security crackdown on Mursi's Muslim Brotherhood, arresting more than 2,000 members, including Mursi and other senior leaders. Security forces have killed hundreds of Mursi supporters.

Many Egyptians turned against the Brotherhood after Mursi's troubled year in office and now support the man who overthrew him, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

In October, an Egyptian kung fu champion was banned from representing the country after he showed support for Mursi.

(Reporting by Michael Georgy Editing by Jeremy Gaunt)

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