Squash

Former world squash champion Mohamed ElShorbagy is at the centre of a heated debate in his home country, Egypt, after he announced he was switching allegiance to England in a move that has brought both widespread sympathy and harsh criticism.

England Squash, the national governing body for squash, announced on June 8 that the 31-year-old ElShorbagy, who had won more than 40 tournaments for Egypt throughout his 15-year sports career, has switched allegiance to England with immediate effect.

The athlete said the “difficult” decision stemmed from the lack of support he found in Egypt, and from choosing a path that would enable him to advance his sports career.

“The older you get, the more you need a team behind you. You need a doctor and a special coach in every tournament. These things were not available to me before,” he said.

“I need support at this time in my career. England came to give me all I needed,” ElShorbagy told BBC Arabic.

“I love my country, Egypt. The toughest thing regarding my decision is the young players who look up to me,” ElShorgaby added.

Meanwhile, Egyptian Squash Association President Assem Khalifa implied that ElShorbagy had planned this move for a while, saying that the England-based player had refused to take part in a number of tournaments on behalf of Egypt and that the association had provided him with backing.

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Pakistan’s first-ever female MMA fighter Anita Karim has defeated Australia’s Uyen Ha on June 12, with a unanimous decision under Fairtex Fight Promotion at Lumpinee Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand. The 25-year-old fighter her opponent in all the three rounds of the bantamweight fight.

Football

Liverpool’s Egyptian star Mohamed Salah won the 2022 Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) Player of the Year award on June 9. Salah has won the award for the second time in his career. He first claimed the award in 2018.

His club Liverpool also paid tribute to the 29-year-old for this honor. “It’s a great honor to win a trophy, individual or collective, and this one is big, so very happy and very proud of that. This one is a really good one to win, especially because it’s voted by players. It shows you that you’ve worked really hard and you get what you worked for,” Salah said.  He scored 23 goals and made 14 assists in 35 English Premier League appearances in the 2021-22 season, in which Liverpool finished second.