Mohamed Salah appears to have again fallen out with Egypt’s soccer federation after the country’s votes for FIFA’s player of the year awards were deemed invalid and therefore did not count towards the striker’s overall tally.
Barcelona forward Lionel Messi beat Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and five-time winner Cristiano Ronaldo to win the award for a record sixth time on Monday while Salah finished fourth — 20 points behind Messi.
Salah, a national icon in the soccer-mad African country, removed any reference to Egypt from his official Twitter profile in the wake of Monday’s awards ceremony and his Twitter bio now reads “Footballer for Liverpool FC”.
“Whatever they do to try to change my love for Egypt, they will not succeed,” Salah, who has previously clashed with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) over image rights, said on Twitter.