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Why Isn’t Mohamed Salah Present at the 2025 Ballon d’Or Ceremony?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Farah Ben Gamra | Last updated Sep 22, 2025 5:02 PM ET

Mohamed Salah was among the 30 players nominated for the 2025 Ballon d’Or, though the Egyptian was not with the Liverpool delegation when they arrived on the red carpet at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris.

The Egyptian player ultimately finished just outside the podium, placing fourth in the final rankings.

Virgil van Dijk, Alisson and manager Arne Slot were present, but Salah was not. Here are the likely reasons that Salah was not there:

1. Fixture Commitments

The day after the Ballon d’Or, Liverpool will play an EFL Cup tie at Anfield. It’s perfectly usual for clubs to attempt to keep players engaged with preparations for upcoming matches rather than allowing them to attend celebrations abroad.

2. Squad Rotation and Resting Senior Players

However, Arne Slot had already announced he would rest senior players, including Salah, after what he called a “busy week” of games. FotMob reported Salah, along with Van Dijk and Alisson, would sit out the Carabao Cup tie against Southampton.

3. Personal Choice

It could also simply be that Salah did not want to attend or had personal emergencies. Many of the nominees go to the gala, even if they stand little chance of winning, but sometimes players will skip the trip altogether, whether to avoid travel, media, or general attention, or because the focus is simply on the others.

As of now, no official word from Salah or Liverpool, so personal choice is a plausible explanation.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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