Trabzonspor threatens legal action over unauthorised Mohamed Salah promotions

Trabzonspor has warned companies against using Mohamed Salah’s name, image or club shirt in commercial campaigns without permission, after the Egyptian forward’s transfer generated widespread interest in Turkey and around the world.

The Turkish club issued a strongly worded statement on 23 September 2026, saying it had identified a number of advertisements and promotional campaigns seeking to benefit from the publicity surrounding Salah’s arrival.

Trabzonspor said the transfer had created “huge excitement” not only across the Turkish sporting community but internationally. It added that some companies and commercial organisations had responded by using photographs of Salah, his name and images of the Trabzonspor shirt without authorisation.

The club highlighted the legal position in its statement, saying: “Salah wearing a Trabzonspor shirt does not give any third party the right to use his name and images for commercial purposes.”

According to Trabzonspor, the suspected breaches included using photographs of Salah to promote products and services, creating the misleading impression that the player or club had entered into a commercial partnership or endorsed a particular business, and attempting to profit from the commercial value of the Trabzonspor brand.

The club said those practices represented a clear violation of Salah’s personal rights and image rights. It also said they infringed Trabzonspor’s trademark rights, commercial reputation and economic value.

Trabzonspor confirmed that it had begun recording all advertisements and other commercial uses believed to breach the rights of both the player and the club. It added that all necessary legal and criminal proceedings would be pursued against those responsible for the cases already identified.

The statement was published after a social media post by Trabz10 TV on 23 September 2026, which referred to Trabzonspor taking action against those using Mohamed Salah’s image and promoting commercial products.

Trabzonspor ended its announcement with a further warning to businesses seeking to associate themselves with the player’s high-profile move.

It said: “Love of football and support do not constitute a justification for the unauthorised commercial use of rights protected by law.”