CAIRO: At a cafe in a bustling Cairo neighborhood, Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds, but with Mohamed Salah off the pitch, his Egyptian fans would now rather play cards or quietly doomscroll than watch the Reds play.
Salah, one of the world’s greatest football stars, delivered an unusually sharp rebuke of manager Arne Slot after he was left on the bench for three consecutive games.
Adored by fans as the “Egyptian king,” Salah told reporters he had been “thrown under the bus” by the club he has called home for seven-and-a-half years.
The outburst divided Liverpool fans worldwide — but in the Cairo cafe, people knew what side they were on, and Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Inter Milan went unnoticed.
“We’re upset, of course,” said Adel Samy, 40, a longtime Salah fan, who remembers the cafe overflowing with fans whenever he was playing.
On Tuesday evening, only a handful of customers sat at rickety tables — some hunched over their phones, others shuffling cards, barely glancing at the screen.
“He doesn’t deserve what’s happening,” Samy said.
Islam Hosny, 36, who helps run the family cafe, said the street outside used to be packed with “people standing on their feet more than those who sat on chairs” whenever Salah played.
“The cafe would be as full as an Ahly-Zamalek derby,” he said, referring to Egypt’s fiercest football rivalry.
“Now because they know he’s not playing, no one comes.”
At a corner table, a customer quietly asks staff to switch to another match.
‘Time to leave’
Since joining the Merseyside team in 2017, Salah has powered the club’s return to the top of European football, inspiring two Premiere League titles, a Champions League triumph and victories at FA Cup, League Cup and FIFA Club World Cup.
With 250 goals in 420 appearances, he is Liverpool’s third-highest goalscorer of all time, and for Egyptians, the country’s greatest sporting export.
But this season, Salah has struggled for form, scoring five goals in 19 appearances as Liverpool have won just five of their last 16 matches in all competitions, slipping to eighth in the Champions League with 12 points.
At the cafe in the Shoubra neighborhood of Cairo, the sense of disillusionment gripped fans.
“Cristiano Ronald, Messi and all players go through dips,” said Mohamed Abdelaziz, 40, but they still play.
Shady Hany, 18, shook his head. “How can a player like Mohamed Salah sit on the bench for so long?” he said.
“It is time for Salah to leave.”
Slot said on Monday he had “no clue” whether Salah would play for Liverpool again.
Salah, due to join Egypt for the Africa Cup of Nations after next weekend’s home match against Brighton, has around 18 months remaining on the £400,000-a-week contract he signed in April.
Egyptian sports pundit Hassan Khalafallah believes Salah’s motivations lie elsewhere.
“If he cared that much about money, he would have accepted earlier offers from Gulf clubs,” he said.
“What matters to Salah is his career and his legacy.”
Salah’s journey from the Nile Delta village of Nagrig to global stardom at Anfield has inspired millions.
His rise is a classic underdog story — starting at Egypt’s El Mokawloon, moving to Switzerland’s Basel, enduring a tough spell at Chelsea, finding form at AS Roma and ultimately becoming one of the Premier League’s greatest players.
“Salah is an Egyptian star we are all proud of,” said Hany.
Egypt switches off Liverpool after Salah fallout
https://arab.news/9rbz9
Egypt switches off Liverpool after Salah fallout
- Liverpool games once drew wall-to-wall crowds in Cairo whenever Salah was playing
- Manager Arne Slot left Egyptian star on the bench for three consecutive games
Swiss politicians call for UEFA’s tax-exempt status to be revoked over stance on Israel
- ‘A double standard is unacceptable. While UEFA has rightly chosen to sanction Russian teams it has taken no action or measures against Israel to date,’ says one lawmaker
- Former UN human rights chief says Swiss authorities should know their international reputation as a leading proponent of humanitarian law is on trial
GENEVA: Swiss politicians on Wednesday argued that UEFA’s privileged tax status should be revoked until European football’s governing body ends what critics described as its complicity in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands.
Local and national parliamentarians issued a statement calling for a vote on the issue, citing a Jul. 19, 2024, ruling by the International Court of Justice that found Israel was illegally occupying Palestinian land, including in the West Bank.
The lawmakers argue that since the Israeli Football Association, which fields teams that play on that occupied land, is a member of UEFA, the legal standing of the governing body and its associated tax advantages in Switzerland, where it has its headquarters, are in question.
They said that the tax relief granted to UEFA means that instead of benefiting from that revenue, Swiss citizens are effectively funding illegal activities of the Israeli Football Association.
“As an international federation, (UEFA) has long benefited, despite its significant commercial activity, from a tax exemption granted specifically because international sports federations play an important role in promoting peace and combating racism and discrimination,” they said in the statement.
“UEFA has long placed these concerns at the heart of its decisions. Its commitment to peace, for example, was among the motivations cited in support of sanctions adopted by the organization following Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. However, it is clear that this objective is not being pursued today.”
Raphael Mahaim, a member of the Swiss National Council, said: “UEFA enjoys preferential tax treatment in Switzerland. This comes with certain obligations, including promoting the values of peace.
“A double standard is unacceptable. While UEFA has rightly chosen to sanction Russian teams, it has taken no action or measures against Israel to date.”
Craig Mokhiber, an international human rights lawyer and former director of the UN’s human rights office in New York, said: “On Dec. 10 (International Human Rights Day) Swiss and cantonal authorities started the debate on the continuation of UEFA’s privileged tax status.
“That status should be revoked until UEFA ends its complicity in the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.”
Swiss authorities should know that their international reputation as a leading proponent of humanitarian law is itself on trial in this process, he added.
Theophile Schenker, a member of the Cantonal Parliament of Vaud, the canton in which UEFA’s headquarters is located, said: “UEFA must choose: either it genuinely acts to promote peace and can benefit from the advantages it offers, or it completely abandons this objective and its tax exemption.
“In the first case, it cannot remain passive when the IFA condones illegal and discriminatory practices, which are contrary to sporting values.”
Ashish Prashar, a former adviser to the Middle East Peace Envoy, and campaign director for the Game Over Israel pressure group, said: “UEFA is at the forefront of funding and normalizing the apartheid and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian territories, by continuing to provide a subsidy and allowing the IFA to be a member.
“This is money that could be going into the Swiss coffers; instead, the public is funding the illegal activities of the IFA.”
Prashar said that the simple solution for UEFA and its president, if they truly believe in international law, national law and the promotion of peace, would be to suspend Israel’s membership of the organization.
Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, said UEFA cannot claim to promote peace through football while shielding a country that fields five teams in occupied Palestinian territory, and is responsible for the genocide of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
“For decades, Israel’s human rights abuses have been thoroughly documented, yet UEFA continues to carve out an exception that no other nation enjoys,” he said.
“The actions of a government always carry consequences for its citizens; that rule applies to every country except Israel. Enough is enough. UEFA must remove Israel from the league or accept the consequences of protecting impunity.
“In this dark moment in history, accountability is the only path forward.”
