Mohamed Salah was granted permission to return to Liverpool early after it was confirmed he would not feature for Egypt against Mauritania.
Egypt manager Hossam Hassan confirmed Salah had returned to Merseyside ahead of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier due to concerns over Mauritania's artificial turf.
Hassan was also fearful of Salah being hurt after he described Mauritania as a team with 'violent interventions'.
'If any player asks me not to play on artificial turf, I will agree,' Hassan said.
'The Mauritanian team plays hard and with violent interventions, and their field is not the best.