While everyone thought Mohamed Salah and Trézéguet will be the only names trending during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, Amr Warda sweeps in with a scandal and takes over social media.
Let us give you a quick recap in case you’ve been living under a rock this past month. Egyptian football player, Amr Warda, was outed by an Egyptian-British model after publicly posting screenshots of a flirty conversation between them.
While many thought of the Instagram DMs as harmless, another Mexican model released footage of Warda in a compromising position and screenshots of the player insulting her for not sending explicit photos.
The player’s saga ended with the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) kicking him out of the national team, only to be forgiven one day later after releasing an official apology. The decision did not sit well with many social media users and celebrities such as Rania Youssef who had to face Egypt’s wrath for wearing a revealing dress. Others blamed Mohamed Salah for publicly supporting his teammate.
Petitions to prevent Warda from participating in the championship have been circulating on the internet. Many argued that Warda should be removed from Orange’s billboards across the country. Now something bigger, better, and more subtle has just happened.
In the beginning, one of the tournament’s official sponsors, Orange, released a fun and retro advert featuring Amr Warda, Trézéguet, and Tarek Hamed. After Egypt’s multiple wins and reaching the round of 16, Orange released a new ad this week featuring Trézéguet and Hamed only.
Warda only appeared once from his back. Even when the three football players appeared standing back to back, the scene is cut before the camera reached Warda. This does not look like a coincidence to us.
It seems that the multinational telecom company knew better than featuring a man accused of sexual harrassment in a football ad. Maybe Warda was never scheduled to make an appearance in the second advert, but all I can say is good riddance. Smart move, Orange!
