"What I meant to say is that (sexual harassment) happened before and is happening now. He has to get treatment or rehabilitation just to make sure that it is not going to happen again," Salah told CNN. Warda was kicked out of Egypt's squad over multiple claims of sexual misconduct that surfaced online in June but was reinstated at the request of his team-mates. Salah denied having a role in Warda rejoining the team. His wide-ranging interview, which also took shots at Egypt's football federation, attracted both supportive and critical reactions.
One Egyptian tweeted "Salah is lying... he did have a direct role in bringing Warda back to the team. He supported him with this tweets". Another young woman enthusiastically posted "we love and support you Mo Salah!". Former national goalkeeper Ahmed Shobair waded into the debate, noting that Salah's tweets were written in coordination with the federation's former chairman Hany Abou Rida.
The EFA board tendered its resignation after highly-fancied Egypt crashed out of the tournament at the last-16 stage following a 1-0 defeat to South Africa, a match in which Warda played. Salah, who helped Premier League giants Liverpool win the Champions League in June, reiterated in the interview that "my position is still the same... the people misunderstand what I am saying".