Salah tweet shows his dispute with Egypt Football is not over

CAIRO: Mohamed Salah has revived a months-long dispute with football authorities in his native Egypt, accusing them of ignoring his complaints about their unauthorized use of his image.

The dispute over image rights and lingering tensions over his treatment during the World Cup have cast doubt on whether Salah, the top scorer in England’s Premier League last season, will continue playing on the national team.

“It’s normal that a football federation seeks to solve the problems of its players so they can feel comfortable. But in fact, what I see is exactly the opposite,” the Liverpool winger tweeted Sunday.

“It is not normal that my messages and my lawyer’s messages are ignored. I do not know why all this (is happening)? Do you not have time to respond to us?!” he added.

Egypt’s football association said in a statement it would discuss Salah’s demands Monday.

Ramy Abbas, Salah’s agent, said he and his client have asked for guarantees regarding the 26-year-old’s “well-being” while on the national team and assurances that his image rights won’t be violated again. “Enough is enough,” Abbas tweeted.

Salah’s tweet was widely shared in Egypt, where he is seen as a national hero.

Egyptian business tycoon Naguib Sawiris called for the resignation of the football association’s board members.

“Treating an Egyptian figure like Mohamed Salah who raised his country’s name in an unprecedented way should not have been like that… Resign and relieve us after the abject failure,” Sawiris tweeted Monday.

The dispute first surfaced in April when the Egyptian national team prominently featured Salah’s image on its plane, which was provided by official team sponsor WE. Salah has a sponsorship deal with a rival telecommunications firm, Vodafone.

At the time, Youth and Sports Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz announced that all of Salah’s demands would be met following an emergency meeting of the football association’s board. Farag Amer, head of parliament’s Youth and Sports committee, said President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi had ordered that the dispute be quickly resolved.

Salah is due to be back in international action under new coach Javier Aguirre in September, with Egypt facing Niger in a 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier.

But his participation could be in doubt.

Salah’s relationship with the association has been strained since he was apparently used as a political symbol while the World Cup squad was based in Chechnya. In June, two people close to Salah told The Associated Press that the player has been considering retiring from international play.

Salah was said to have been particularly annoyed by a dinner banquet hosted by Ramzan Kadyrov, the ruler of the Russian region of Chechnya, in which he granted the Egyptian “honorary citizenship.”

Salah was criticized in British media after posing for photos with Kadyrov, who has repeatedly been accused of human rights abuses, including torture and the killing of political opponents. Kadyrov denies the allegations.

By SAMY MAGDY | AP

تفاصيل أزمة محمد صلاح مع اتحاد الكرة المصري

هاجم النجم محمد صلاح الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم بسبب ما اعتبره تجاهلا من الاتحاد ومسؤوليه لرسائله ورسائل محاميه.

وكتب صلاح على حسابه في موقع تويتر “الطبيعي أن أي اتحاد كرة يسعى لحل مشاكل لاعبيه حتى يوفروا له الراحة.. لكن في الحقيقة ما أراه عكس ذلك تمامًا”.

وأضاف “ليس من الطبيعي أن يتم تجاهل رسائلي ورسائل المحامي الخاص بي.. لا أدري لماذا كل هذا؟ أليس لديكم الوقت الكافي للرد علينا؟!”.

من جانبه غرد محامي صلاح “رامي عباس” بتغريدة تشير إلى غضبه من اتحاد الكرة المصري.

وأضاف المحامي في تغريدة أخرى أنه وصلاح طلبا من الاتحاد المصري ضمانات تتعلق بتواجد صلاح في منتخب مصر والتأكيد على عدم انتهاك حقوق الصور مرة أخرى.

وكانت أزمة اندلعت بين صلاح واتحاد الكرة المصري بسبب استغلال صورة صلاح ووضعها على طائرة المنتخب المصري المشارك في مونديال روسيا بجوار شعار إحدى شركات الاتصالات دون إذنن من اللاعب الذي تعرض لمشكلة بسبب تعاقده مع شركة اتصالات أخرى لتقديم إعلانات لصالحها.

وأعلن صلاح تفاصيل ذلك الخلاف ليحصل على دعم واسع من الجمهور المصري ويجبر وزارة الرياضة على التدخل لحل المشكلة.

لكن تغريدة صلاح الأخيرة توحي بأن المشكلة ما زالت قائمة.

وسرعان ما تفاعلت الجماهير المصرية مع تغريدة صلاح تحت وسم #ادعم_محمد_صلاح، وعبّرت عن تضامنها مع اللاعب، وانتقدت اتحاد الكرة ودوره السلبي في المشكلة.