Mo Salah’s Egypt Teammate Sentenced to Year in Prison in Academic Fraud Case

An Egyptian international, who previously played alongside Mohamed Salah for the North African nation and enjoyed a stint in the Premier League, has been sentenced to one year in prison.

Various reports from Egypt claimed that Pyramids FC forward Ramadan Sobhi faces a one-year sentence, including hard labour, due to a case of exam fraud in which he and three others were accused.

As reported by Egypt Independent, the Giza Criminal Court handed out the sentence on Tuesday (December 30), after the defendant faced charges of facilitating impersonation at a private institute, allowing individuals to take exams in place of students in exchange for financial gain.

The person who took the exams for the other defendant received the same sentence.

Sobhi was arrested in July after returning from Turkey, where he’d been training, following allegations of falsifying documents related to exams in tourism and hospitality at a college in Giza.

Ramadan Sobhi (right) in action for Stoke against Liverpool in 2018 (Credit:Getty)

Two defendants, including Sobhi, received a one-year sentence plus forced labour, while another defendant, who, according to Sportstar, is a fugitive, was handed a 10-year sentence but was not present in court. A security guard was also acquitted.

According to the Mail, when the allegations were made, Sobhi explained how he had ‘no knowledge of these certificates and records’.

He said: “I have never seen them, and I am still a third-year student.”

Sobhi also faces a four-year suspension after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed violations of anti-doping rules in November 2025, with the test taken in March 2024.

The 28-year-old forward has played for Egypt 37 times and represented two then-Premier League sides when he played 46 times for Stoke City before also representing Huddersfield Town four times.

Ramadan Sobhi has 37 caps for Egypt (Credit:Getty)

Sobhi scored just three goals for Stoke before the Terriers signed him for £5.7 million in 2018. The 28-year-old did not perform well for the Yorkshire club before returning to Egypt when he joined Al Ahly in 2019.

The Egyptian has played alongside Liverpool star Salah 21 times.

Sobhi’s lawyer, who has yet to comment on the verdict, is expected to launch an appeal.

Pyramids FC have also yet to comment.