Mohamed Salah was in line to have the honour of being Egypt’s flag bearer at this summer’s Olympics had he gone on to represent his country instead of reporting for pre-season.
The 2024 Olympics take place in Paris between July 26 and August 11, and a few Liverpool players had been mooted to be in contention.
Clubs, however, are not obliged to release players for the Olympics as it does not fall under FIFA rules – and thus, no Liverpool players are to be involved.
As with every Olympic cycle, Egypt express hope that their talisman can be involved but it always ends with the same outcome, and it is again the case, with Salah not named in the final squad.
If he had been, he would have been the flag bearer at the opening ceremony says Yasser Idris, head of Egypt’s Olympic committee.
Idris said, via GOAL: “The flag bearer shouldn’t only be a football player, Salah is an exception due to his popularity in the country and worldwide and that’s why we were planning for him to do the honours if he was present.”
Instead, Sara Samir (weightlifter) and Ahmed Elgendy (modern pentathlete) will lead Egypt out in Paris.
It would have been a proud moment for Salah, but he instead will commit his time to Arne Slot‘s first pre-season with Liverpool and the upcoming trip to the United States.
The Egyptian has yet to report for training after an extended break following two 90-minute outings for his country after the conclusion of the domestic season.
The 32-year-old has been enjoying his break but that did not stop him from focusing on his physique, with Salah’s posts on Instagram showing he is in outstanding shape heading into pre-season.
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