Mohamed Salah's performance at the 2018 World Cup was negatively influenced by his row with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA), a former member of the organisation has claimed.
Ahead of representing his country in Russia two summers ago, the Liverpool forward was embroiled in a row with then-president Hani Abu Reeda over image rights.
A picture of Egypt's star man had been branded on the team plane alongside the logo of telecommunications firm WE, despite his personal deal with rivals Vodafone.
This led to a very public falling out that Hazem Emam, a senior official with the EFA at the time, believes was harmful to Salah.
Speaking to Egyptian television channel OnTime Sports, he said: "Mohamed Salah had a disagreement with the former president of the federation, Hani Abu Reeda.
"We should have asked Salah before using his image on the national team's aeroplane before the World Cup, that was the beginning of the whole problem.
"This disagreement had a bad influence on Salah during the World Cup. As a result, he did not celebrate his goals".
Salah scored twice as Egypt were knocked out of the World Cup in the group stages without having claimed a single point.
