The Egyptian FA has stated it has not discussed international retirement with star player Mohamed Salah. Reports recently emerged suggesting Salah was on the brink of exiting the international set-up following the backlash received after he had his picture taken with controversial Chechnya leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
However, the Egyptian FA have revealed there have been no talks over his retirement after he was announced as a ‘honorary citizen of the Chechen Republic’ by Kadyrov.
‘We were always informed by Salah when he takes any decisions,’ the Egypt FA said in a statement. ‘We spend the whole day together and he has never discussed this issue with any of the delegation’s members.’
The statement added regarding the criticism directed at Salah: ‘We are here in a sports event and we are following FIFA procedures, we don’t discuss politics, and if there is any political discussion, it should be directed to FIFA.’
This is also not the first time Salah has been involved in a high-profile controversy with his country’s FA. The country’s football association used his image rights without his permission before, which potentially put him at risk of financial loss. Vodafone has a sponsorship deal with Salah, but his image was used all over Egypt’s World Cup plane which was sponsored by WE, a rival telecommunications company.