HIGHLIGHTS

• Liverpool refuse to release Moahmed Salah for World Cup qualifiers
• Egypt is on Britain’s red list, so Salah would be required to quarantine for 10 days
• Salah has twice won the Premier League’s Golden Boot award

Liverpool has refused to release Mohamed Salah for Egypt’s upcoming World Cup qualifying matches because of coronavirus restrictions, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) said on Monday.

“The Egyptian Football Association had received a letter from Liverpool apologising for the inability of its player, Mohamed Salah, to join the national team for next month’s African qualifiers for the World Cup,” the EFA said in a statement posted on its social media.

“The English club’s letter referred to the precautionary measures applied in England to confront the outbreak of coronavirus, which forces returnees from some countries to compulsory health isolation for a period of 10 days upon their return to England.

“In its letter, the English club also expressed its hope that the Egyptian association would understand that it was forced to do so, in the face of the player being subjected to a quarantine,” the EFA statement added.

Egypt is on Britain’s red list, so Salah would be required to quarantine upon his return from Cairo and miss two Premier League games.

Egypt is scheduled to play Angola in Cairo on September 1 before traveling to face Gabon four days later in Franceville.

Salah, who has twice won the Premier League’s Golden Boot award, tested positive for the virus during a visit to Cairo in November, where he attended his brother’s wedding. At the time, he was to join the national team for its game against Togo.

The 29-year-old Salah was the first Egyptian player to become a Premier League champion after joining Liverpool in 2018 from Roma. Liverpool is seeking to strike a new deal to keep Salah with the club.