“During the monitoring of the votes submitted by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) on August 15, it was remarked that the signatures on the voting forms were in capital letters and thus seemed not valid (not authentic),” said FIFA.
Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates during the English Premier League match between Liverpool and Bournemouth at Anfield in Liverpool, Britain on Feb. 9, 2019. Liverpool won 3-0. (Photo: Xinhua)
FIFA on Thursday has said that two votes for Egyptian forward Mohamed Salah to win The Best FIFA Men’s Player award were not counted in its Men’s Player of the Year ballot because they were in capital letters.
It is to note that Liverpool star Salah failed to make it to the top three of the ballot, with his nominations from Egypt’s captain and coach not included.
Salah appeared to be upset when FIFA’s full list of voting was released without his country’s selections.
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The 27-year-old took to Twitter, saying: “Whatever they do to try to change my love for Egypt, they will not succeed.”
See the post:
مهما حاولوا يغيروا حبي ليكي ولناسك مش هيعرفوا❤️❤️❤️ pic.twitter.com/CgM7w1xKXY
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) September 24, 2019
Meanwhile, the governing body, in their explanation, said: “During the monitoring of the votes submitted by the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) on August 15, it was remarked that the signatures on the voting forms were in capital letters and thus seemed not valid (not authentic). The voting forms were also not signed by the general secretary which is mandatory.”
FIFA added that the President’s Office of the EFA, which has undergone recent structural changes, was contacted about the issue, with no response received in time for the votes to count.
Talking about the FIFA Men’s Player of the year award, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi beat Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo and Netherlands center-back Virgil Van Dijk to win the award for the sixth time at the Best FIFA Football Awards held in Milan on Tuesday (IST).
Salah finished fourth – 20 points behind Messi.
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