Unhappy with his image being tarnished by a political controversy in Russia, Mohamed Salah is reportedly close to quitting Egypt.
With his team crashing out of the World Cup with two defeats in two games, news emerged that Salah was granted honorary citizenship of Chechnya by controversial strongman Ramzan Kadyrov.
Kadyrov wrote on Telegram that he had presented the Liverpool star with the honorary title while hosting a dinner for the Egypt team, whose World Cup training base is in the Chechen capital Grozny.
“Mohamed Salah is an honorary citizen of Chechnya! That’s right!” Kadyrov had written last Friday.
“Tonight I signed a decree to grant the high honour to the great footballer who plays for Egypt and Liverpool.”
Kadyrov, supported by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, rules Chechnya with an iron fist, drawing constant condemnation from human rights groups.
He is known as an ardent football fan and in 2013 took to the public address system during a match involving Chechen team Akhmat (formerly Terek) to publicly insult the referee.
Salah has been photographed smiling and clasping hands with Kadyrov during the tournament, which has dominated headlines and has left the star forward reportedly disgruntled.
According to a CNN report, “Salah feels exposed by what has happened in Chechnya,” according to a source close to him. The Liverpool star doesn’t wish to engage in topics beyond football or to be used for anyone’s political image, the report added. Another ESPN report added that Salah is “unwilling to being used as a political pawn.”
While Kadyrov is seen as an ultraconservative ruler who has enforced strict Islamic rules in Chechnya since taking to power in 2004, the Egyptian government “shows zero tolerance for political Islam and has for years been fighting an insurgency led by Islamic militants,” which has resulted in this looking like an unsavoury Public Relations exercise according to an ESPN report.
Kadyrov had said that at “a gala dinner that I gave for the Egypt team I presented Mohamed Salah with a copy of my decree and a lapel badge. This is a well-deserved honour!” and that Salah had praised the “wonderfully warm and good welcome” the team received in Grozny.
Egypt crashed out of the World Cup after losing to Russia 3-1 on Tuesday, with Salah returning to action for the first time in three weeks following a shoulder injury but unable to save his team. The Egyptians play their final match against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida earlier denied media reports Liverpool had put pressure on them to leave out Salah, who scored 44 goals for the English Premier League club last season.
“No, we did not receive anything from Liverpool,” he told AFP.
“When the player is with the national team, it is for us to decide,” he said in Grozny, Chechnya, before the team travelled to Volgograd.
Salah was slammed to the turf by Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final on May 26 in Kiev, causing a painful shoulder injury.
(With AFP inputs)
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