Severe anger and a looming crisis: a new player leaves Egypt's camp after Mohamed Salah
Suspicious silence from the Egyptian Football Association
Another player has walked out of the Egypt national team camp during the international break, days after Trabzonspor star Mohamed Salah did the same.
Salah departed after the goalless draw with Angola in the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers, a game in which he was substituted in the second half.
The Egyptian Football Association confirmed Salah had left camp and would sit out the South Sudan clash in the same qualifiers. The reason? A "tartan" pitch he cannot play on.
French club Nice have now announced the departure of Mohamed Abdelmonem from the Egypt camp, ahead of the friendly against South Africa, by mutual agreement between the two parties.
Abdelmonem joined up with the Egypt squad for the latest camp but never featured against Angola, and he did not travel to South Sudan over fears he might get injured on the "tartan" surface.
In an official statement released today, Nice said: "By mutual agreement with the Egyptian national team staff, Mohamed Abdelmonem has left the national team camp to preserve his physical fitness and safety."
It continued: "This decision was taken jointly, given the conditions under which the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying match was held, in particular on an artificial grass pitch, and with the shared desire not to risk the player's health."
The statement added: "Nice is doing everything in its power to ensure that Mohamed, like all its international players, can join his national team and represent it in the best possible conditions, with particular attention paid to their health, recovery and physical safety."
Signing off, the club said: "The club would like to thank the Egyptian national team staff for the mutual agreement and their understanding, and the work they did with Mohamed during this spell. Mohamed will now continue his work with Nice in order to prepare in the best conditions for the upcoming challenges."
One detail stands out. It was Nice who broke the news of Abdelmonem's exit, and the Egyptian Football Association had offered no clarification by the time of writing.
Media figure Ahmed Shobair offered his take on the radio: "Mohamed Abdelmonem will also not be present in the South Africa match (next Sunday), and very clearly there is upset and great upset between Mohamed Abdelmonem and the technical and administrative staff."
He continued: "I hope the matter ends early between the national team's technical staff and Abdelmonem rather than escalating significantly, because they are upset with him and they are right."
He added: "I do not wrong any player, but the technical staff have the right to be angry with Mohamed Abdelmonem, and I ask the player to take the initiative to end the dispute and the anger, because we need him and all the players in the national team."
Three things lie behind the staff's anger: Abdelmonem's refusal to play against South Sudan, a letter from Nice requesting his withdrawal, and now his departure from camp after talks between the club and the national team's technical staff.
