Egyptian footballer becomes an honorary citizen of Chechnya

Ramzan Kadyrov awarded Mohamed Salah, an attacker of the Egyptian national team, with the title of honorary citizen of Chechnya. The decision contradicts the statute of the award, which is granted to those persons who have worked in Chechnya for at least 20 years, local observers note.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Russia hosts the FIFA World Cup, which will last until July 15. Since the beginning of the World Cup, the Egyptian national team had two matches which ended in the defeat, including the match with the Uruguay national team, which ended on June 15 with the score of 0: 1 and the match with the Russian national team - 1: 3.

On June 22, a gala dinner in honour of football players of the Egyptian national team was held in Grozny. In the course of the event, Mohamed Salah, an attacker of the Egyptian national team, was awarded the title of honorary citizen of Chechnya. "The appropriate decree was signed by the leader of Chechnya. Last night, at the gala dinner in honour of the Egyptian national team, a copy of the decree and a badge were handed over to the athlete," the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the administration for the leader and the government of Chechnya.

The Chechen authorities used the arrival of the Egyptian national team as an occasion to make a regular PR step, local activists told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

"Granting Mohamed Salah with the title of honorary citizen of Chechnya is nothing else but a regular PR step of the authorities. According to the regulations, the title can be granted to a citizen who worked in Chechnya for at least 20 years, made a special contribution to the development of the republic, earned respect and wide popularity with the people of Chechnya, as well as the one whose activities have been internationally recognized. What have Mohamed Salah done, except for coming for a couple of weeks to the republic? Well, he came to Grozny, walked through the stadium with Ramzan, and took part in the Friday prayer in the mosque. And, in principle, that's all," believes local observer Aslanbek.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on June 23, 2018 at 11:15 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.