Salah makes headlines

MOHAMED SALAH, a star attraction ahead of football’s 2018 World Cup in Russia, has made headlines for a smiling photo with Ramzan Kadyrov, strongman of Chechnya where his Egypt team have set up camp.

Kadyrov, supported by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, rules Chechnya with an iron fist, drawing constant condemnation from human rights groups.

According to press reports, he himself went to the Egyptian team hotel to pick up Salah and deliver him for training at the football stadium before 8,000 cheering fans.

Officially, The Pharaohs chose Grozny as Egypt’s camp although it is not hosting any matches in the tournament to keep a low profile, away from the media, as they prepare to make their World Cup finals return after an absence of 28 long years.

Sporting a turquoise-and-white tracksuit, Kadyrov gushed about Salah, saying the Egypt and Liverpool goal machine was “the best footballer in the world, and an overall perfect person”.

Chechnya’s president himself is an avid fan of the no-holds-barred sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Under his rule of Muslim-dominated Chechnya, mosques have sprouted up everywhere from the ruins of towns and villages destroyed in two wars against the central government in Moscow.

However, for the team itself, the SalahKadyrov handshake was far less important than whether their star will recover from a shoulder injury to feature in Egypt’s opening match against Uruguay on Friday in Ekaterinburg. – AFP