Roma's director Walter Sabatini insisted on Sunday that Egyptian winger Mohamed Salah "will not be harmed" over a proposed plan that if implemented will see Serie A players raise banners next weekend to demand the truth over the murder of Italian student Gulio Regeni in Cairo.
Chair of the human rights committee in the Italian Senate, Luigi Manconi, made the initiative on Wednesday. There has been no official confirmation from Serie A clubs over whether they would accept the request.
Given the sensitivity of the matter, Salah, who has produced a string of fine displays with Roma since joining last summer, may face embarrassment and criticism back home if he raises such banners. A decision to ignore the initiative may also prove controversial for the 23-year-old.
He remained tight-lipped over the headline-grabbing issue but Roma stressed that they would protect their player.
"Roma fully support those initiatives, because we share the general feeling about the Regeni case," Sabatini told Mediaset Premium on Sunday.
"There is an ongoing kind of manipulation on behalf of Salah, who didn't do anything wrong.
"He will not be improperly involved in these situations because he is a good guy and we'll be alert to protect him."
Regini, who was in Cairo conducting research on independent trade unions, went missing on 25 January. His body was found, bearing signs of torture, in a ditch on the outskirts of Cairo on 3 February.
The case has strained ties between Cairo and Rome, otherwise close allies, prompting Italy to recall its ambassador to Egypt for consultations earlier this month after Egypt refused to share evidence deemed relevant to the case.
Egyptian prosecutors said the Italian request for a large volume of call logs was "illegal and unconstitutional."
