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	A mural in downtown Cairo which features Mo Salah among other famous Egyptian personalities such as singer Umm Kulthum and the Nobel-winning Egyptian novelist Naguib Mahfouz [Getty]

Aboutrika, who endorsed the Muslim Brotherhood for the presidency, later had his assets seized by authorities after being accused of funding the group - which has now also been designated a terrorist organisation.

Other footballers who have spoken out against Sisi have also paid a hefty price. In 2015, Egyptian footballer Ahmed al-Merghany, who had taken part in the 2011 revolution, had his contract terminated after he made Facebook comments critical of Sisi.

"All we ever get from you is useless words with no actions," he wrote.

It's not just footballers that have been targeted. In 2013 Egyptian martial arts champion Mohammed Youssef stepped up to receive his gold medal at the World Championship in Russia wearing a t-shirt bearing the Rabaa salute - the four fingered sign widely circulated on social media in support of the protesters who died in the Rabaa massacre ordered by Sisi.

Youssef was sent home from Russia and dropped from the national team. He was interrogated once he arrived back in Egypt and - on the basis that he had disgraced his country - was banned from taking part in further competitions.

Salah is undoubtedly one of the best players in the Premier League, but he is no Black Power-saluting Tommie Smith or John Carlos and he is certainly no Muhammed Ali, the boxing champion who refused to be drafted into the US army to fight in Vietnam.

Read more: Egyptian star Mo Salah hits another record at Liverpool

The fervour around Salah has to be considered in the context of a $282,000 donation he made to Tahya Masr, a state-run fund controlled by Sisi and ostensibly aimed at supporting Egypt's development - as well as the fact that he has not spoken out about the atrocities taking place in Egypt.

It's true that the athletes that risk everything to speak out against injustice often pay dearly for doing so.

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Colin Kaepernick is the American quarterback who knelt for the national anthem last year in a silent, peaceful protest against police brutality towards people of colour.

US President Donald Trump issued a fairly predictable response to his protest - "maybe he should find a country that works better for him" - but the implications were huge. Kaepernick has since been cast out of the league.

Still, there are many who consider Kaepernick, one of the most gifted American football players in the world, a hero for his actions.

In contrast, Salah is being used as a puppet by a regime which has trampled all over sportspeople, then woken up to realise it can use them to further its propaganda campaign abroad.

In an attempt to improve his standing, Sisi has promised new sports complexes across the country - and is bidding to host a number of international sports events.

Even the Egyptian Football Association - whose webpage is basically an image of Salah on the side of an aeroplane - is on board. In January they held a press conference in support of Sisi's presidential bid attended by the heads of football clubs and several athletes.  

While it's commendable that so many people are calling in to the rehab hotline following Salah's project with the Ministry of Social Solidarity, are we supposed to believe that a government that incarcerates 60,000 political prisoners really cares about the humane treatment of drug abuse?

The campaign has shown us that Salah is clearly a highly influential sportsperson. In his position, it's one thing choosing not to speak out about human rights abuses in your country, it's quite another helping a corrupt president with his PR campaign.

Amelia Smith is a writer and journalist who has reported from across the Middle East and North Africa. In 2016 she was a finalist in the Write Stuff writing competition at the London Book Fair.

Her first book, , was published in 2016.