Why The World Needs More Salahs

The game ended 5–2. “We are Liverpool,” Klopp said in his post-match interview. “It means we play all-inclusive football.” He might have been referring to the 2 cheap goals Liverpool gifted Roma in the last 15 minutes. But Liverpool Football Club, and its fans, have in fact become “all-inclusive”.

In a world that’s becoming more hostile towards migrants and minorities, the Liverpool faithful are unconsciously giving us a glimpse of what an inclusive community could look like in the future. The catalyst for this “all-inclusiveness” is the little Egyptian magician, Mohamed Salah.

We’re lucky enough to witness and admire the skill and talent of several Muslim footballers today. Paul Pogba, Mesut Özil, Mané. But none of them have come close to achieving what Salah has. In just one season, Salah has not only smashed several sporting records, he’s given us reasons to believe that football can set a good example for society in general. Who knew?

That’s one of the songs riding the Mexican wave of voices around Anfield today. Sung to the tune of Dodgy’s Good Enough, the chant ends with the lines: “He’s sitting in the mosque/That’s where I want to be.” To most people, this is all just a bit of fun. To the PC Police, it’s obviously offensive. But how weird and wonderful is it to listen to crowds of Englishmen and women embracing this player as well as his oft-maligned faith? Liverpool fans are, through pure invention and passion, inspiring inclusion through song. And this inclusion can inspire change. We all know the sustained power of football chants. They live long, floating across stadium terraces for generations.

Some people might say this article focuses too much on religion. Some liberals might say “We don’t care about Salah’s faith, we would’ve accepted him anyway”. Unfortunately, we are all human. We are all victims of unconscious bias. We like to pay lip-service in these reactive times of social media. But however hard we try, we can never fully be gatekeepers to people who aren’t like us. Let’s recognise those biases. When migrants and minorities rise to the top, we’ve got to protect and enable them to set examples for people like them. People who fear the invisible barriers that our hostile world has created.

A Muslim whose country is better-known for its glorious past is playing for a football club with a rich history. Together, they need to look towards the future. They can use their unique position to dink exclusion over the goalkeepers of bigotry, and into the back of the net.

The Anfield Spring has arrived. Hopefully, this inclusive season will blossom and create a lasting ripple effect. It will take awareness. It will take reflection. It will take time. And that’s fine. After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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