Mohamed Salah Retirement: Here’s What Egypt FA Has to Say

Egypt Football Association (EFA) has cleared the air regarding star footballer Mohamed Salah’s retirement. Egypt FA in its latest statement has said that Salah “never discussed this issue with any of the delegation's members.” Following, Egypt’s poor show at the 2018 FIFA World Cup speculations grew that Liverpool forward will quit the international football. The speculations were also fuelled by the criticism after Salah was pictured with controversial Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, who is accused of numerous human rights violations.

“We were always informed by Salah when he takes any decisions. We spend the whole day together and he has never discussed this issue with any of the delegation's members,” the EFA said in a statement.

“We are here in a sports event and we are following FIFA procedures, we don't discuss politics, and if there is any political discussion, it should be directed to FIFA,” EFA added in the statement while reacting to the criticism Salah faced after he was given honorary Chechen citizenship by Kadyrov. 2018 FIFA World Cup Video Diaries: Egypt's Mohamed Salah Given Honorary Chechnyan Citizenship

Salah's agent Ramy Abbas’s one of the tweets also played a part in the speculation of the footballer’s retirement. “Let these next few days just pass... and then we'll see…,” Ramy’s tweet read, which many assumed gave an indication about Salah's future with the national team.

Meanwhile, Egypt faced a 1-2 defeat against Saudi Arabia as their 2018 FIFA World Cup campaign came to an end. Egypt finished last in group A and lost all its three matches. Salah opened the scoring in the 22nd minute, but then Salman Al Faraj and Salem Al Dawsari netted a goal each to help Saudi Arabia end their World Cup stint on a high.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 26, 2018 12:02 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).