Mohamed Salah
Mohamed Salah has demanded the resignation of top Egyptian FA officials if they do not offer him more protection from fans while on international duty.
The Liverpool striker is the main source of attention for supporters when Egypt play, but that has led to fans knocking on his hotel bedroom in the middle of the night to ask for photos and autographs.
He also finds himself mobbed during training sessions, with exercises disrupted by crowds descending on the pitch.
With his pleas so far ignored, he has called for those at the top to resign if they cannot resolve the issue. The problems also call into question the 26-year-old’s future in the Egyptian side.
Salah is alarmed by the lack of security he receives from his national team, and his lawyer, Ramy Abbas Issa has sent several letters to the FA detailing the changes the PFA Player of the Year wishes to see.
As revealed by The Sun, those letters — in which Issa describes the treatment of his player as ‘disgraceful and abhorrent’ — state plainly that they must stop supporters from camping outside the player’s room and knocking on his door throughout the night.
He also says the EFA should stop fans from approaching him during training sessions.
They ask that Salah should have two security guards with him at all times, with more situated outside his hotel room and at the lifts on the floor he is staying on, while all calls to his room must be blocked.
Issa also writes that his client ‘will not be expected to be made available for any promotional appearances, interviews, meets and greets, sponsor events, official visits,’ to promote the national team.
He also urges the EFA to take more discreet measures when Salah arrives in the country for international duty, providing transport from his plane directly to his hotel.
Salah himself has written a message to the EFA on Twitter, such is his exasperation with their treatment of him.