Chechnya leader, Ramzan Kadyrov has awarded Egyptian forward, Mohammed Salah with the honourary citizenship of the semi-autonomous Russian region. Before the start of the tournament, Kadyrov – accused of a string of human rights abuses met Salah and the Egypt team in the Chechen capital Grozny, where the Egyptian team had its World Cup training camp. Some had said at the time that FIFA had made a big mistake in allowing Chechnya to host a training base.
Now, according to reports, Salah has been awarded honorary citizenship of Chechnya by Kadyrov. He wrote on Telegram: “Tonight I signed a decree to grant the high honour to the great footballer who plays for Egypt and Liverpool.”
Egypt were eliminated from the World Cup after losing to Russia 3-1 on Tuesday but the team insists that they will play for pride when they meet Saudi Arabia in their next match.