On his home turf in Egypt, everyone wants piece of Liverpool’s Salah

Awards have since piled up, leading to talk of him challenging Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the 2018 Ballon d’Or, given to the world’s best player.

On April 22, Salah scooped the Professional Footballers’ Association player of the year for the 2017-18 Premier League season.

Salah also became a national hero for his leading role in helping Egypt to qualify for the World Cup for the first time in 28 years.

The competition kicks off on June 14 in Russia, and the eyes of all Egyptians are expected to be on him.

But Boniface remains sceptical of how successful attempts would be to use Salah politically on the international stage.

Such attempts would be “very exposed” and similar “to the old ways of propaganda,” he said.

On the other hand, the prodigy can give a significant boost to Egyptians’ “national self esteem”, he said.

In Egypt, images of President Sisi abound in public, with Salah the only other person coming close to having as many appear on advertising billboards, television screens and online.

So proud of how far this project has reached #SayNoToDrugs pic.twitter.com/CDKYtsX4MK

— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) April 26, 2018

Pictured alone or alongside his Egyptian or Liverpool teammates, Salah features prominently in adverts for a mobile telecoms company, a brand of soda or a local bank.

At the same time, he has publicly supported a campaign by the National Council for Women promoting gender equality, and appears in a government video for an anti-drug campaign.

The “You’re Stronger Than Drugs” campaign has increased the number of calls to the anti-drugs help line, according to the Ministry of Social Solidarity.

– Symbol of ‘soft power’ –

Efforts to turn such a big star into a symbol of soft power are not new, said Gamal Abdel-Gawad, a researcher at Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies.

The greatest such symbol in Egypt remains Umm Kalthoum, the undisputed queen of Arab song, more than four decades after her death, he said.

But Salah’s overexposure could also now be a source of conflict.