The Egyptian football association (EFA) has said tweets allegedly sent by official Khaled Lateif containing threats to star player Mohamed Salah’s mother came from a fake account.
CORRECTION: RT has removed an earlier article which referred to comments made on Twitter allegedly by Egyptian football official Khaled Lateif, who has since denied owning the account from which they were sent and which is not officially sanctioned.
The account, which was reported to have belonged to Egyptian football official Khaled Lateif, referenced an apparent threat to Salah’s mother, stating: "I'd like to remind Mo Salah that your mother is still in Egypt. You are abroad and can do as you wish. Those who understand, understand,"The New Arab reported on Wednesday.
That account - @KhaledLateif - was later suspended by Twitter and the EFA duly claimed the tweets, supposedly in response to Salah’s criticism of Egypt’s World Cup 2018 preparations, were from a fake account and that the association is beginning legal proceedings regarding the matter.
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“This morning[Wednesday], Hussain Helmy, the legal adviser to the Federation, submitted a report to the Attorney general about the existence of false accounts in the name of the president and members of the Union on social media,” they tweeted in Arabic.
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Salah, 26, is a national hero in his native country, and had earlier been critical of Egypt’s preparations for the recent Russia 2018 World Cup, laying partial blame for their dismal group stage exit with the Egyptian FA, also claiming he had been “ignored” by members of the body.