Mohamed Salah has, as he generates plenty of headlines at Liverpool, been nominated for a top award that has previously been won by Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Erling Haaland. The Egyptian superstar, who is facing questions of his future at Anfield, is one of the nominees for a prize that will be handed out at the 2025 BBC Sports Personality of the Year gala.
Salah is one of six shortlisted athletes for the World Sport Star award. Footballers figure prominently on that roll of honour, with all-time greats Messi and Ronaldo having previously seen their exploits recognised. Manchester City striker Haaland also landed the gong in 2023 after helping to deliver a historic Treble to the Etihad Stadium.
Other former victors include tennis greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, Olympic sprint king Usain Bolt, gymnastics icon Simone Biles, UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov, golf superstar Tiger Woods and boxing GOAT Muhammad Ali.
Salah is among the contenders in 2025 after helping Liverpool to Premier League title glory last season. He plundered 34 goals across all competitions, with 29 of those landing him a fourth top-flight Golden Boot in English football.
Competition for the prestigious World Sport Star prize is provided by Swedish pole vault world champion Armand Duplantis – the current holder of the award – athletics star Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, Spanish footballer Mariona Caldentey, American boxer Terence Crawford and Japanese baseball player Shohei Ohtani.
Should he take first place, Salah would become the first Egyptian to claim the BBC award. The trophy will be handed out at the Sports Personality of the Year show on December 18. Salah will not be in attendance regardless of the outcome of a public vote, with the 33-year-old forward preparing to head off with his country on Africa Cup of Nations duty.
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It remains to be seen whether he will figure for Liverpool again before and after another major tournament is graced at international level. Questions are being asked of Salah’s future following an explosive outburst.
Speaking after being benched for a third successive Premier League game, with no minutes seen in a dramatic 3-3 draw with Leeds, Salah told reporters that he is being thrown under the bus by Liverpool during an inconsistent 2025-26 campaign. He also revealed that his relationship with Reds boss Arne Slot has broken down.
Salah said during a remarkable rant: “I don’t know why, but it seems to me, how I see it, that someone doesn’t want me in the club. I don’t know why this is happening to me. I don’t get it. I think if this was somewhere else, every club would protect its player.
“How I see it now is like you throw Mo under the bus because he is the problem in the team now. But I don’t think I am the problem. I have done so much for this club. The respect, I want to get. I don’t have to go every day fighting for my position because I earned it. I am not bigger than anyone, but I earned my position. It’s football. It is what it is.”
Reds legend Jamie Carragher is among those to have reacted to Salah’s comments. He has told Sky Sports: “I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst, I do not think it was. I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it is choreographed by him and his agent to cause maximum damage and to strengthen his own position.”
Salah signed a two-year contract extension with Liverpool in April, but may not get the chance to see that agreement through. A January transfer is already being mooted, amid talk of renewed interest from the Saudi Pro League, with Slot taking to leaving the 250-goal forward out of his plans for a Champions League clash with Serie A giants Inter on Tuesday.
