Egyptian footballer Mo Salah, a striker for Liverpool, has come under fire for being embraced by a model in his most recent magazine cover photo, which critics say draws attention to societal inequalities.

Former Victoria’s Secret Angel Alessandra Ambrosio is depicted with Salah on the cover of GQ Middle East.

The second version, which is up for controversy, shows Ambrosio embracing him from behind whereas the original version shows them side by side.

During a group laugh, the actors can be seen on a behind-the-scenes video.

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The majority of comments—especially those from Egypt—focused on Salah being accepted by the model despite being a married Muslim man brought up in an orthodox society.

Imagine if a Muslim woman who is married did this, a Twitter user remarked.

People either neglected to congratulate the Liverpool star on earning GQ’s Man of the Year award for 2019 or refused to do so since they were focused with the incident.

Following the publication of the two covers on his social media accounts, Salah was also deluged by a flurry of furious fans who chastised him for the pictures and questioned his morality.

One Instagram user remarked, “You should be ashamed of yourself as a Muslim.”

The jokes about Salah’s marriage failing or crumbling were frequently made in the comments. Tens of millions of fans around the world follow the football player, but he hasn’t responded to the criticism yet.

Salah’s pictures were immediately contrasted with those of female Egyptian celebrities who had endured worse penalty for behavior deemed immoral. Actress Rania Youssef risked a five-year prison sentence for choosing to attend a red carpet event wearing a dress that showed off her legs and upper thighs.

Salah is accustomed to posting candid snapshots of his life online, and his Instagram profile is replete with such images. The GQ scandal, on the other hand, draws attention to his difficult juggling act between being Egyptian, Muslim, and a famous figure internationally with a substantial fan base outside of the Arab world.

Supporters of the striker questioned why the player was getting flak, claiming that the photo shoot with Ambrosio was justified given that the player was no longer just a local celebrity in Egypt but also an international A-lister.