The federation uses its image to advertise a rival phone company of its personal sponsor. The agent threatens the boycott, the Minister of Sport intervenes. Mohamed Salah is undoubtedly the player of the moment, the revelation of the season, the main candidate to enter the duopoly Messi-Cristiano Ronaldo that dominates international football in recent years. The Liverpool striker is also one of the most anticipated men of the next World Cup in Russia, with Egypt having qualified for the first time in 28 years (and who will be included in the group with Russia, Uruguay and Saudi Arabia). But the popularity of Salah has triggered in recent weeks a case that could even question the presence of former Roma at the World.
The case is a question of sponsors, or money, and Salah is the injured party. Momo has for some time been the image man of the Vodafone telephone company throughout the Middle East. In Egypt, the company gives 11 minutes of phone calls for every goal scored by the attacker of the Reds (the thing is costing him a car, this year). The Egyptian national team, on the other hand, is sponsored by the rival company We, and the federation is using the image of its best man, Salah, for signage and various advertisements. In short, the face of Salah advertises in spite of the rival company of the one that pays him handsomely. Everything seems to have happened without any kind of consent from the company that manages the image rights of the Egyptian attacker.Place bets on your favourite player with premium tennis picks.
Salah's agent has obviously been on a war footing for weeks, but in recent days he has begun a sort of constant update on Twitter: every 24 hours he takes into account the days since he had the last contact with the Federation or the Ministry of Sport, claims that nobody answers him and ensures that "every option is on the table". Including that of the boycott of the World Cup. Salah himself confirmed his support for the action of his agent, Ramy Abbas, while the dust raised in recent days immediately received the popular support, with a real social campaign to support the player. It is difficult for federal silence to continue and for the conflict to continue until the extreme solution. Salah has no intention of losing the World Cup, and a possible flat fee would be a boomerang not only for the federation, but also for the telephone company We (already imagine the boycotts ...). Do not risk a new case Zaytsev, the blue volleyball player who jumped the Europeans for a question of sponsors and shoes. Then it was the player who did not want to give up his personal sponsor, and the federation was adamant. Now the situation is upside down, and the Egyptian people would not digest losing their best player for a question like that.
So much so that the question seems to have already reached the highest levels of politics. Sport Minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz, who has convened an urgent meeting with the management of the local football association, would intervene: "I can assure that we will help Salah to honor all the commitments it has with its sponsors.We will meet the demands of the player and his agent".