Liverpool will be given the final say on whether Mohamed Salah can feature for Egypt during next summer's Olympics.
The Pharoahs have for some time indicated their plan to call up Salah as one of three overage players in their under-23 squad for the Games in Tokyo.
The men's football event, which had been due to take place this summer until the Games was postponed 12 months due to the coronavirus pandemic, runs from July 22 through to August 7 next year.
If involved, Salah would miss some of Liverpool's pre-season schedule and potentially the beginning of the new Premier League campaign.
However, Egypt U23s head coach Shawky Gharib admits Reds boss Jurgen Klopp would have to give the green light for the player's involvement.
"We will speak with Liverpool in March," he said to MBC Masr. "We haven't discussed the issue with the player yet.
"The problem is that the AFCON will be played a few months after the Olympics, but the latter will end and the Premier League will start three days after.
"But we can't call up Salah unless Liverpool approve."
Salah is already set to miss a significant chunk of next season by featuring in the Africa Cup of Nations in the early months of 2022.
Egypt need to win only one of their last two games to seal their berth in the tournament in Cameroon, which was initially due to take place in the summer of next year but will now be held in January and February 2022.
Sadio Mane's Senegal have already qualified while Naby Keita is also poised to feature with Guinea favourites to progress from their group.
