Sport
Meet Mo Salah, The World’s Highest-Paid Arab Athlete With $53 million in total earnings, Egypt’s Mohamed Salah ranked as the highest-paid Arab athlete on Forbes’ 2023 list of the World’s Highest-Paid Athletes. Here’s a glimpse into the life of the legendary sportsman. Mo Salah—known to his fans as the “Egyptian King”—is the 28th highest-paid athlete in the world and the fifth highestpaid soccer player in 2023. The 30-year-old plays as a forward for Premier League club Liverpool and now resides in the U.K. He first joined Liverpool in July 2017, signing a five-year deal with the club. In October 2020, he scored his 100-goal for Liverpool, becoming the third fastest player to do so in club history. In September 2021, he became the fifth quickest player to score their 100th Premier League goal in the competition’s history, doing so in 162 matches. Salah helped Liverpool end a 30-year wait to be crowned domestic champions in 2020 after winning the Premier League title. He won the Premier League Golden Boot award three times for the 2017-18, 20182019, and 2021-22 campaigns. In July 2022, the Liverpool No.11 signed a new three-year contract with the club, tying him to the team until summer 2025. In the 2022-23 season, Salah played 50 games and scored 30 goals, of which 10 were winning goals, as of May 25, 2023. F O R B E S M I D D L E E A S T.C O M
In the same season, he overtook Robbie Fowler to become the club’s all-time Premier League goals leader. Salah helped Egypt reach the Africa Cup of Nations final in 2022. In 2021 adidas honored Salah’s ability to unite people through sport in its “Impossible Is Nothing” campaign and projected him onto the Burj Khalifa’s façade. Salah has previously played for Italy’s AS Roma, London’s Chelsea FC, Italy’s ACF Fiorentina,, and Switzerland’s FC Basel. He signed his firstever contract with Egypt’s El Mokawloon or the Arab Contractors Sporting Club. As of 2023, the footballer had hauled in $35 million in on-field earnings, including prize money, salaries, and bonuses, and $18 million from endorsements, appearances, licensing income, and other business endeavors, according to Forbes. adidas, Gucci, Pepsi, and Vodafone Egypt are some of the star’s sponsors and partnerships. In 2020, Salah was listed among Forbes’ Highest-Paid Celebrities 100 ranking. Salah was featured on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 Europe list 2022.
JUNE 2023
BY JAMILA GANDHI ; PHOTO BY OLI SCARFF / AFP
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