Discrimination has been a festering issue with the rise of right-wing sentiment in the United Kingdom but an unlikely person has helped reduce Islamophobia in Liverpool. A study conducted by Stanford University showed there has been an 18.9% drop in Islamophobic hate crimes in Liverpool since Mohamed Salah joined in 2017 summer.

The Egyptian winger returned to the Premier League after an unsuccessful campaign at Chelsea in 2014 for £34 million from Roma which was the club record at the time and it was worth every single penny.

In his first season at Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah scored 32 goals in the Premier League winning the Golden Boot and helped Liverpool reach the Champions League final with stunning goals against Roma in the semi-finals. By this stage, Salah’s name was known across the world with his humble demeanour and incredible left foot.

While Salah is not the first Muslim player for Liverpool with the likes of Sadio Mane, already a fan favourite, and Emre Can, his name makes it easier to identify him as a Muslim. As a result, some fans even profess they will convert to Islam thanks to Salah.

Unfortunately, Salah picked up a shoulder injury in the Champions League final against Real Madrid which resulted in a loss and ended Egypt’s first World Cup campaign in decades by finishing without a single win.

Many rival fans wrote Salah off as a one season wonder but once again proved the doubters wrong by winning the Golden Boot again with 22 goals alongside his African compatriots Sadio Mane and Pierre Emerick Aubameyang as well as helping Liverpool reach the Champions League finals again and this time winning the prestigious trophy.

Mohamed Salah already booked himself in Liverpool’s legend where his name will be visible to future generations.

Photo by Pierre Châtel-Innocenti on Unsplash

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply