FIFA President Gianni Infantino greets Liverpool s Egyptian midfielder Mohamed Salah (left) following the 2019 FIFA Club World Cup Final football match against Brazil s Flamengo in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday (AFP )
"I am a big fan of Egypt and I adore Egyptian culture and football, which is celebrating 100 years since the establishment of the [Egyptian Football Association,]" Infantino told On Time Sports TV on Thursday
The 29-year-old winger has been named for the award’s shortlist in a list published by the governing body last week.
"It's not only 110 million people [in Egypt] who hope Mohamed Salah wins FIFA’s The Best Player of the Year Award but also there are 450 million waiting for his win. All the Arab world backs Salah to win," .
"Salah is a football legend [and there are many such legends in Egypt,] but the Liverpool winger took a different path and started his early professional career in Switzerland; I wish him good luck," the FIFA president said.
"There are 110 million Egyptians that adore football, I meet them around the world and they tell me they are Egyptians and they love football,"
Salah will be competing with Kylian Mbappe, Robert Lewandowski, Neymar and the usual suspects Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi.
The Egyptian winger has been in stunning form this season, scoring 17 goals in 17 games in all competitions, including 11 Premier League goals to lead the scorers' chart so far.
The vote for The FIFA Best Player of the Year Award 2021 will be open until 10 December.
FIFA will announce a three-man shortlist early in January and the winners will be announced on 17 January in an online ceremony.
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