Contested bodies: the Egyptian King and the body of the nation

Abstract

Mohamed Salah occupies an exceptional position as both a working-class Egyptian hero and a celebrated global sports icon. Within British media, Salah was often hailed as a model of integration, a humble, devout, and successful Muslim man whose professionalism appears to transcend cultural boundaries through football. Simultaneously, in Egypt and across the Arab world, he is imagined as a symbol of national pride, affectionately dubbed ‘the Pride of the Arabs’. Yet, recent controversies show that Salah’s public image is far from stable. The tension between his transnational visibility and national expectations has intensified, in particular around his perceived abandonment of Egypt’s national team during AFCON 2023 and his delayed, carefully calibrated public response to the war on Gaza. This paper interrogates how these controversies unfold in public discourse and media representation, and what they reveal about contemporary constructions of Arab, Muslim, and migrant masculinities. Drawing on gender studies, migration studies, and media sociology, we analyse British media coverage alongside Arabic-language public reactions. Rather than treating Salah’s image as static, we examine its contradictions and fractures to understand the complex social meanings it carries.