(UTV|COLOMBO) – The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) says there is “No problem” between it and star player Mohamed Salah, amid reports the Liverpool forward could be set to quit the national team, the BBC Sport reported.
It had been reported the 26-year-old was considering his future with the squad after a series of disagreements.
Salah was reported to be unhappy after being photographed with Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
“Reports that Salah wants to leave are completely wrong,” the Egypt FA said.
“Mo is still with us now and he is happy in the camp. He is eating and laughing with his team-mates. He is training well and that means no problem.”
Salah had been pictured with Kadyrov, who was accused of using the player for political propaganda.
Egypt are based in Chechnya during the World Cup, and on Saturday Salah’s agent Ramy Abbas tweeted that he was “Fuming”.
Kadyrov’s regime has been criticised for alleged human rights abuse, a claim he denied this week in a BBC interview.
Salah had a disagreement with the EFA in April over his image rights.
He was upset his image had been used in a promotion for official sponsor WE when he had a sponsorship deal with rival telecommunications firm Vodafone. He tweeted in Arabic: “Sorry but this is a major insult.”
Salah missed Egypt’s World Cup opener against Uruguay as he continued to recover from the shoulder injury that forced him out of Liverpool’s Champions League final defeat.
He returned for the game against hosts Russia, and scored a penalty in Egypt’s 3-1 defeat.
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