Why is Liverpool FC superstar Mo Salah NOT playing for Egypt at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?

The 2024 Olympic Games are well under way with Egypt's football team preparing for a quarter-final vs Paraguay tonight (Friday, 1800 BST), but they are doing so without Liverpool superstar Mo Salah.

There were a number of Reds stars who had been mooted to be in contention to represent their respective nations over the next fortnight. One being Wataru Endo and the other notable possibility being Salah.

In fact, the latter was in line to have the honour of being Egypt’s flag bearer for the opening ceremony as revealed by Yasser Idris, the head of Egypt’s Olympic committee.

"The flag bearer shouldn’t only be a football player, Salah is an exception due to his popularity in the country and worldwide and that's why we were planning for him to do the honours if he was present," he said, as per GOAL.

Is Mo Salah playing in the Olympics at Paris 2024?

No. Mohamed Salah is not in Paris representing Egypt at this summer's Olympic Games. In fact, instead he is figuring for the Reds on their pre-season tour of the United States.

Ultimately, it's fantastic news for Arne Slot and co that the forward wasn't selected, especially if Egypt go all the way. Not only was there a risk of Salah missing the entirety of pre-season, but almost certainly the first game of the Premier League season too. That takes place just eight days after the Gold Medal match.

Why wasn't Salah selected?

Because the Olympics does not fall under FIFA rules clubs are not obliged to release players for the football tournament. As a result, 'following talks', Salah wasn't named in the Egypt squad which means he will be completely available for the remainder of Liverpool's pre-season program.