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A bizarre club-versus-country row between Liverpool and Egypt over Mohamed Salah’s fitness looks set to escalate further, with national team staff in Cairo suggesting they have been unable to communicate with the injured forward.
Liverpool wrote directly to Egypt at the end of last week asking the national team to exempt their star man and captain from an upcoming camp in Abu Dhabi, where the Pharaohs are set to face New Zealand in a friendly tournament.
Egypt rejected that request and called up the player, insisting it was their right to assess Salah’s fitness themselves. The forward has played just once for Liverpool since sustaining an injury in the Africa Cup of Nations group stage.
National chiefs wanted Egyptian doctor Mohamed Abu El-Ela to run his own assessment of Salah before making any decisions on his involvement in the upcoming international camp and said that they would ‘adhere to his inclusion’ if he played any minutes for Liverpool before then.
Egypt rejected Liverpool’s request and included Salah in the squad anyway, effectively saying they would make their own mind up on his fitness. However, a member of the Egyptian FA board has said they have been unable to communicate with Salah.
A row between Liverpool and Egypt is set to escalate further over the fitness of Mohamed Salah
The Reds wrote a letter to Egypt asking for the player to be left out of an upcoming training camp for a friendly tournament
Egypt rejected the request with the player featuring just once for Liverpool since sustaining an injury at AFCON
The forward has not featured in the Premier League for Liverpool since playing half of the win over Brentford in mid-February, but Jurgen Klopp said last week that there were hopes for Salah to return to fitness to be in contention for Sunday’s title battle with champions Manchester City.
Even if he were to return for City’s visit to Anfield, Liverpool feel that Salah’s minutes must be managed carefully to avoid an injury recurrence and have him in tip-top condition for the business end of the Premier League season.
These arguments were put across to Egypt’s FA in a letter which asked the nation to prioritise Salah’s long-term health instead of risking his fitness at the friendly tournament later this month, where they will play New Zealand. Croatia and Tunisia are also present at the competition.
‘The Egyptian national team, led by Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan, could not communicate with Mohamed Salah so far,’ said Ehab El Komy of the Egyptian FA. ‘There hasn’t been any meeting between the technical staff of Egypt and Mohamed Salah yet.’
Sources in Cairo suggest that Egypt are very keen to patch up relations with Liverpool after the two parties also clashed when Salah left the Africa Cup of Nations in Ivory Coast early to undergo rehab on Merseyside.
Egypt’s doctor El-Ela has spoken to Liverpool’s medical team and board member El Komy told local television this week: ‘The national team definitely needs Mohamed’s presence, and (we are) very keen to remove any misunderstanding (between the two parties).’
