Dubai: Mohammad Salah’s feud with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) over image rights is nearing a compromise, according to EFA board member and former Pharaohs player Hazem Emam.
The Liverpool striker’s relationship with the EFA soured before the World Cup after his image was used without his knowledge or permission to promote the national team’s sponsor, WE, the mobile service of Telecom Egypt. At the same time he was also sponsored by WE’s rivals Vodafone.
Emam says the rift is nearing its end and that the player will now be able to concentrate on his football.
“We are talking with his lawyer and will try to make a deal with him,” said Emam at the launch of the du Football Champions season in Dubai on Wednesday.
“He has some rights, we have some rights, and we will try to compromise what we can do.
“It’s difficult because Egypt hasn’t had a mega star like that before, with details in the contract, but he’s a nice guy and we will try to solve everything and make a deal with him to make it easier for him to concentrate on his football rather than this.”
Asked if the situation had been broken, with the player said to be considering international retirement, Emam replied: “It was, but now it’s in a better way.
“Now it’s in the paperwork, he’s always talking with the head of the FA directly and now the Minister of Youth and we will all try to help him have a point together. Always for us he is one of the best and we have all the respect for him.”
Emam also denied the fallout had affected the player’s performances. “He’s professional and now at a level where he knows how to work. This other stuff — I would advise, although he doesn’t need my advice, that concentrating on his football would be better for him because that’s what makes him Mohammad Salah, the best player in the Premier League last season.”
