Mohamed Salah's difficult World Cup has been put down to the "bad influence" of the row over image rights that hampered preparations for the Liverpool forward.
Salah was expected to be Egypt's key man in the finals in Russia two years ago having scored the goal that earned them qualification for the first time in 28 years.
However, he was involved in a disagreement with the Egyptian FA when his image was used without permission on the national team’s official plane provided by official sponsor ‘WE’.
Salah has his own individual sponsorship deal with rival telecommunications firm Vodafone, and the row had threatened the player's participation in Russia until the Egyptian government intervened to mediate.
The Liverpool forward was already troubled by the lingering effects of the shoulder injury suffered when tangling with Real Madrid's Sergio Ramos in the Champions League final a few weeks before the World Cup.
While Salah scored twice, Egypt lost all three group games to Uruguay, Russia and Saudi Arabia and were the first team eliminated from the competition.
And former Egyptian FA official Hazem Emam, who won 87 caps for his country, told OnTime Sports: "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."
It was unhappy tournament for Salah, who during the finals was unimpressed at being encouraged to pose for pictures with Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov at a training session and was then granted an honorary citizenship by the controversial figure.
The row over image right was reignited after the finals when the Liverpool player and his agent Ramy Abbas once again hit out at the Egyptian FA, although the situation was subsequently resolved.
