MOSCOW: After his team crashed out of the World Cup, Egypt’s star player Mohamed Salah has won a consolation prize in the form of honorary citizenship of Chechnya.
Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov wrote on Telegram that he had presented the Liverpool star with the honorary title while hosting a dinner for the Egypt team, whose World Cup training base is in the Chechen capital Grozny.
“Mohamed Salah is an honorary citizen of Chechnya! That’s right!” Kadyrov wrote late Friday.
“Tonight I signed a decree to grant the high honor to the great footballer who plays for Egypt and Liverpool.”
Kadyrov, supported by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, rules Chechnya with an iron fist, drawing constant condemnation from human rights groups.
He is known as an ardent football fan and in 2013 took to the public address system during a match involving Chechen team Akhmat (formerly Terek) to publicly insult the referee.
Salah has been photographed smiling and clasping hands with Kadyrov during the tournament.
Egypt crashed out of the World Cup after losing to Russia 3-1 on Tuesday, with Salah returning to action for the first time in three weeks following a shoulder injury but unable to save his team. The Egyptians play their final match against Saudi Arabia on Monday.
Kadyrov said that at “a gala dinner that I gave for the Egypt team I presented Mohamed Salah with a copy of my decree and a lapel badge. This is a well-deserved honor!“
The Chechen leader has previously presented French actor Gerard Depardieu with the same honorary title.
He also said that he was confident that Akhmat would play a friendly with the Egyptian national team in Grozny at some future date.
Kadyrov said Salah had praised the “wonderfully warm and good welcome” the team received in Grozny.
Chechen strongman makes Egypt’s Salah honorary citizen
Chechen strongman makes Egypt’s Salah honorary citizen
- After his team crashed out of the World Cup, Egypt’s star player Mohamed Salah has won a consolation prize in the form of honorary citizenship of Chechnya
- Kadyrov, supported by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin, rules Chechnya with an iron fist, drawing constant condemnation from human rights groups
NASA plans ISS medical evacuation for Jan. 14
- Space station set to be decommissioned after 2030
- NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, with splashdown off California targeted for early Jan. 15 depending on weather and recovery conditions
WASHINGTON: NASA crew members aboard the International Space Station could return to Earth as soon as Thursday, the US space agency said, after a medical emergency prompted the crew to return from their mission early.
“NASA and SpaceX target undocking Crew-11 from the International Space Station no earlier than 5 p.m. ET on Jan. 14, with splashdown off California targeted for early Jan. 15 depending on weather and recovery conditions,” the agency said in a post on X.
Details of the medical evacuation, the first in ISS history, were not provided by officials, though they said it did not result from any kind of injury onboard and that the unidentified crew member is stable and not in need of an emergency evacuation.
The four astronauts on Nasa-SpaceX Crew 11 have been on their mission since Aug. 1. These expeditions generally last around six months, and the crew was already due to return to Earth in the coming weeks.
American astronauts Mike Fincke and Zena Cardman, as well as Japan’s Kimiya Yui and Russia’s Oleg Platonov, would be returning, while American Chris Williams will stay onboard the international body to maintain a US presence.
Officials indicated it was possible the next US mission could depart to the ISS earlier than scheduled, but did not provide specifics.
Continuously inhabited since 2000, the ISS functions as a testbed for research that supports deeper space exploration — including eventual missions to Mars.
The ISS is set to be decommissioned after 2030, with its orbit gradually lowered until it breaks up in the atmosphere over a remote part of the Pacific Ocean called Point Nemo, a spacecraft graveyard.
