Liverpool will not allow Mohamed Salah to play the next matches of his national team due to health restrictions linked to the resumption of the coronavirus pandemic, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) announced. Two matches valid for the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar are scheduled for the Pharaohs in the international break at the beginning of September, against Angola in Cairo and against Gabon, in Franceville. The Reds also refused to let Brazilians Fabinho, Roberto Firmino and Alisson Becker leave for Seleçao's next three races in Qatar World Cup qualifiers, the British press revealed. Egypt and Brazil are both on the British government's red list for the Covid-19 pandemic.
According to the EFA, Liverpool's decision is linked to the fact that every player leaving for these two countries will have to be isolated for ten days upon returning. The EFA also indicated that it had asked FIFA to lift the quarantine obligations for international players in order to allow them to join their national team. This summer, Liverpool denied Salah permission to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games, where Egypt lost in the quarter-finals to Brazil. Two other prominent players, Mohamed Elneny (Arsenal) and Ahmed Hassan Mahgoub (Olympiakos) are also not on the squad for Hossam Badry, the Egypt manager, for the same reasons.
