Egypt: Saudi sports minister attracts fury over Mohamed Salah

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Fans of Egyptian Liverpool star Mohamed Salah have lambasted Saudi sports minister and

hinted to hold him responsible should the Egyptian player miss the world cup tournament in

Russia, after the Saudi official twitted that the Saudi team will be better off with the Anfield

Road star missing the competition.

Turki al-Sheikh tweeted Friday, following a friendly between Egypt and Portugal, “Let us miss

him (Salah) ahead of the World Cup”. The tweet brought Salah’s fans in Egypt and Saudi

Arabia up in arms.

Saudi Arabia and Egypt are in the same group as host Russia and Uruguay.

Fans of the Egyptian striker also took to social media to rein in the Saudi official.

Al-Sheikh is not at his first controversial comments. The minister this month hinted Saudi

Arabia would not support Morocco in its bid to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, likely over

Rabat’s neutral stance in the diplomatic crisis between a Saudi-led bloc of Arab countries and

Qatar, The New Arab reports.

Qatar has endorsed the North African country’s bid to host the tournament.

Also, the Saudi minister joined the chorus of critics calling the world football governing body

FIFA to strip Qatar of the 2022 tournament over the suspicions of illegal ethical behaviors.