Egypt reluctantly concede defeat in Salah row

LIVERPOOL have been granted their wish of exempting star man Mohamed Salah from an upcoming international camp, with Egypt reluctantly conceding defeat.

The Reds wrote to Egypt earlier this month asking for Salah, who has not started a Premier League game since New Year’s Day through injury, not to be included in a friendly tournament in which they play New Zealand. Egypt originally rejected that approach and said it was their right to include Salah in the squad, which sparked a row as they insisted they would go against Liverpool’s wishes and ‘adhere to his inclusion’ if he played any club minutes, which has since happened.

But the Egyptians have now agreed to put Salah’s long-term fitness before a one-off friendly tournament. It is understood the forward, 31, wrote to the Egyptian FA and asked to be left out of the squad.

Egypt boss Hossam Hassan, who took charge of the team last month after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign, was extremely reluctant to do so, with it being his first camp. But sports minister Ashraf Sobhy talked Hassan into the decision. Tensions appeared to boil between club and country in the last months, with Egyptian media furious at Salah’s premature departure from Afcon to recover on Merseyside instead.

But after a lengthy back and forth, Egypt finally agreed that a friendly tournament, which would see them play Tunisia or Croatia in a ‘final’ if they beat the Kiwis, would not be the best way of ensuring Salah avoids a recurrence of an injury that has cast a shadow over his year.

Salah came off the bench in the 74th minute of Liverpool’s 5-1 win over Sparta Prague on Thursday and featured again as a substitute yesterday against Manchester City. He left Afcon early in late January due to a posterior muscle problem.