This may not bode well for team spirit ahead of the tournament
Mohamed Salah is reportedly embroiled in a major dispute with his own football association over image rights used by the Egyptian FA ahead of this summer’s World Cup in Russia.
The Liverpool star, who has scored 43 goals in his debut season at Anfield, is said to be insulted over the fact that his image has been used on a national team plane without his consent.
His agent, Ramy Abbas, has already tweeted about the dispute, claiming that his client’s image has been repeatedly used without consent on “billboards and ads” throughout the country.
We have not even been contacted for a resolution! Nothing! Complete silence! What's the plan?! We just see more and more billboards and ads coming out which we have never authorised! What effect do they think this is having? A good one?! Anyway, time is of the essence…
— Ramy Abbas Issa (@RamyCol) April 28, 2018
His national team’s talisman and a massive celebrity in his own country, Salah has a sponsorship deal with telecommunications giant Vodafone, a direct rival of the national team sponsor WE.
In a message sent out from his Twitter account yesterday in Arabic, Salah stated that he was “insulted” by the act, and admitted that he hoped the FA would be “classier than this”.
بكل أسف طريقة التعامل فيها إهانة كبيرة جدًا.. كنت أتمنى التعامل يكون أرقى من كدا…
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) April 29, 2018
The dispute comes at a poor time for Egypt with the country set to compete at the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.
Fans already appear to be backing the man whose penalty sent them there, with the hashtag #Support_Mohamed_Salah already gaining traction.
https://twitter.com/elnour_omar/status/990646093288493056
https://twitter.com/Borador2/status/990710134396596229
We will never stop supporting you ya prince @MoSalah #support_mohamed_salah
— Mohamed Fathi Amer (@mohfathi295) April 29, 2018
If they cause you any loss in any way, make sure that we all accept if you decide not to play by Egyptian shirt again. Thank you @MoSalah u’re the best and we all support you. #ادعم_محمد_صلاح #Support_Mo_Salah #Support_Mohamed_Salah
— ﮼إيهاب،حامد،جعفر (@Ehabhamedjafer) April 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/geo_ezz/status/990625774800695297
