A British-Egyptian model says she has become a hate figure and fears she could be attacked if she returns to Egypt.

Merhan Keller claims she has received 'thousands' of messages of abuse after Liverpool star Mohamed Salah tweeted about his Egypt team-mate Amr Warda and helped secure his return to the Africa Cup of Nations squad.

Warda had been sent home from the tournament after admitting that he had sent vile messages of a sexual nature to Ms Keller, 28, over social media.

Warda apologised for his actions in a video message on his official Facebook page.

Salah was among the players to speak out about the incident, condemning Warda's behaviour, but insisting that he shouldn't have been "sent straight to the guillotine".

(Image: Facebook)

(Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)

He wrote on Twitter : "Women must be treated with the utmost respect. 'No' means 'no'. Those things are and must remain sacred.

"I also believe that many who make mistakes can change for the better and shouldn’t be sent straight to the guillotine, which is the easiest way out.

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"We need to believe in second chances... we need to guide and educate. Shunning is not the answer."

On Friday, Warda was recalled to the squad following the messages of support.

Ms Keller has since been receiving hate mail on social media and claims that she has had "thousands" of abusive messages.

"This person (Salah) is God in Egypt. Literally. They don’t deal with him like a football player. He is God and he can do no wrong," Ms Keller said.

"This makes me in jeopardy. I cannot go to my country right now if I want to visit my family.

"People will attack me in the streets. You know how football fans are - ours are 100 times worse."

(Image: Facebook)

(Image: Facebook)

Ms Keller, who has lived in Dubai for seven years after emigrating from Egypt, claims that she is taking legal action in the United Arab Emirates against Warda for the messages that he sent.

She claims that the UAE government are treating the allegations with the utmost severity.

Salah's comments have split Egyptian society, with many women believing that sexual harassment largely condoned across the country, even though Salah did not defend Warda's actions.

Such has been the impact of the tweet, some have called for women to boycott Egypt matches until the end of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Ms Keller claims that she has been left upset to see Salah offering his opinion on the sensitive subject.

"What is shocking for me in the Mohamed Salah situation is that it had absolutely nothing to do with him," she said.

(Image: Facebook)

"I understand the human side of it, that it is his team-mate and he is trying to take his side and he is trying to support him.

"But my concern here is that you can do that on a private level. You can go to him and tell him that he made a mistake, 'make sure you don’t do that again, I would advise you to make a public apology and just focus on yourself and your career and let’s just get through this'.

"You know what he has done, so the fact that he is still siding with him is really, really painful.

Ms Keller added: "He is one of the most recognised figures in the world right now. This has pushed people to harass me even more.

(Image: SIPA USA/PA Images)

"You have no idea the amount of hate messages, threats and stuff that I am getting.

"It is horrible to see yourself in memes and in comics and having everyone making fun of you and swaying away from the main problem."

She added: "I am not trying to take him down or sabotage him, because this is the accusation that I get from a lot of people. I think it is important to highlight that."

Ms Keller claims that she has since received an unexpected message of support from a member of the Egypt squad, who asked for her side of the story and sympathised with her situation.

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The Egypt team are currently in their homeland playing in the Africa Cup of Nations, where they are the tournament favourites.

They take on Uganda in their final group game on Sunday night.