Egypt minister vows to resolve 'dispute' with Liverpool's Mohamed Salah after ad row

Egypt's sports minister Khaled Abdel Aziz has said he will be doing his best to reach a solution in the recent dispute that took place between international football player Mohamed Salah and the Egyptian Football Federation, according to local media.

In a Twitter post the minister wrote: “We will be reaching out to all the parties involved to solve the crisis, especially that the national team is currently preparing to take part in the World Cup. Moreover, Mohamed Salah is an example of a successful, patriotic young man, who is doing an amazing job representing his country abroad. Long live Egypt.”

The Egypt Independtent reported that the dispute was fueled when the Egyptian Football Federation used the Liverpool star’s photo on the plane which will be flying the Egyptian national team to the World Cup in Russia, next to the advertisement of a sponser telecommunications company.

A report in the newspaper said  Salah is individually sponsored by a rival telecommunications company, which he has already done ads for.

The paper said placing his photo next to a competitor could possibly subject him to a LE 100 million penalty based on his contract, an amount which the Egyptian Football Federation refuses to pay.

Last week, Salah wrote on his official Facebook page a post: Unfortunately the way things are being handled is insulting, I was hoping for a more decent way.”