Mohamed Salah’s Dispute with Egytpian FA Intensifies

Mohamed Salah’s relationship with the Egyptian FA has been strained over the past year, first by an image rights fight and then when the federation allowed the player to be used as a political pawn during a disappointing World Cup.

That led Salah and agent Ramy Abbas to demand changes at the Egyptian FA as well as assurances that the player would be better protected while on international duty. That hasn’t happened, leaving the player’s international future uncertain.

“Enough is enough,” Salah’s agent said on Twitter. “We asked for guarantees regarding Mohamed’s wellbeing while with the national team and assurances that the image rights [issues] would not happen again. They have yet to respond.”

What this all means for Egypt’s upcoming Africa Cup of Nations qualifier set for September 8th isn’t certain yet, but there seems a real chance that if the Egyptian FA don’t change tack Salah could seek to remove himself from involvement.

That would likely require the player to declare his retirement from international football, a move that would not prevent him representing Egypt at a later date but would give him cover not to take part with the team in September.

“Normally any football federation would seek to solve the problems of its players so that they can be comfortable,” said Salah. “But really, what I see is exactly the opposite. It’s not normal and I do not know why this is happening.”