Egypt sports officials apologise to football star Mo Salah for image rights scandal

The head of Egypt's football association has apologised to star Mohamed Salah for a dispute over image rights, showing the power of the 25-year-old Liverpool winger.

Hany Abo Rida phoned Salah to say sorry for the association using his image on the outside of the national team's plane without his permission.

The plane was provided by its official sponsor - Telecom Egypt's mobile arm WE - which clashed with Salah's sponsorship deal with rival telecommunications firm, Vodafone.

"Anything that annoyed you will not go on. It is more important for me that you and your teammates' are mentally relaxed so that you can hold our heads high during the World Cup," Abo Rida said on Monday.

Youth and Sports Minister Khaled Abdel Aziz summoned the board members of the Egyptian Football Association for urgent talks on Sunday over the dispute.

Abdel Aziz said late on Sunday that the association had agreed to meet Salah's demands.

"I assure everyone that we will stand by him to honour all the contracts he entered in England," he said on Twitter.

The Liverpool playmaker then signalled that the issue had been settled.

"We were promised a solution and God willing the issue is on its way to being resolved," the midfield maestro tweeted late on Sunday.

He thanked his fans for their "unreal" support.

The Arabic-language hashtag "I support Mohamed Salah" was widely used online, with hundreds of thousands of fans declaring their unwavering support for the player against the federation.

Salah had signalled his growing frustration earlier on Sunday by tweeting "unfortunately the way it is being dealt with is very insulting. I was hoping the interaction would be classier than this."

The dispute erupted six weeks before Salah leads Egypt at the World Cup, the country's first appearance at the tournament since 1990.

No sportsman in Egypt has ever commanded the adulation and respect Salah has enjoyed since joining Liverpool last year from Italian club Roma.

With more than 40 goals this season, Salah has captivated the football-crazy nation of about 100 million people.

Hardly a day goes by without Salah on the front pages of Egyptian newspapers.