Al Amoudi pledged a donation of 1.5bn birr (around US$88m). Arrest and captivity On 4 November 2017, Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi was arrested upon the orders of Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman (MBS) and held captive in Saudi Arabia in a "corruption crackdown" conducted by Mohammed Bin Salman's "royal anti-corruption" committee. Al-Amoudi had not been seen since his arrest and captivity. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali had tried to secure his release, but was unsuccessful. Finally, he was released on January 27, 2019 after 14 months of detention. Philanthropy Al Amoudi has committed funds to support healthcare and sport in Saudi Arabia, the US, Europe and Africa. He funded a breast cancer research centre at King Abdulaziz University. In 2008, Al Amoudi funded King Saud University's an enhanced oil recovery research chair. He also fully funded the King Abdullah Institute for Nanotechnology at King Saud University. Al Amoudi was named as one of the William J. Clinton Foundation Donors, according to information released as part of an obligation placed on former President Clinton when he supported Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State. He is reported to have donated between US$5m and US$10m to the foundation. Al Amoudi sponsored the CECAFA Cup, Africa's oldest football cup competition, in 2005 and 2006, the tournament was named the Al Amoudi Senior Challenge Cup as a result in those years. He also supports Ethiopian Premier League Club Saint George S.C. and covered the medical expenses of one of Ethiopia's most celebrated footballers, Mengistu Worku, before his death in December 2010. In 2011, he pledged 100 million Ethiopian birr for a stadium and access road in Mek'ele. In January 2017, The Sheikh Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi Stadium was opened. The Stadium reportedly cost more than $22 million, and took four and a half years to complete. Defamation actions In December 2010 Al Amoudi initiated a claim in the English High Court against Elias Kifle of the Washington, D.C.-based Ethiopian Review claiming damages for libel. In July 2011 Kifle was ordered to pay £175,000 in damages for publishing false information. The Ethiopian Review had also repeated unwarranted material relating to his family and to matters previously dealt with in the Al Amoudi v. Brisard case of 2005. M. Brisard had made serious and unwarranted allegations concerning engagement in the funding of terrorism in the wake of 9/11 but had subsequently apologised for the accusation.