Liverpool's Mohamed Salah and Galatasaray's Mostafa Mohamed were supposed to be called up to Egypt's squad for the upcoming Olympic Games.
However, their respective clubs did not allow them to participate in the competition.
"All negotiations with Liverpool and Galatasaray have not been successful, as the two clubs want the two players with them in the coming period," Egypt U23s manager Shawky Gharib told MBC Masr, as quoted by King Fut.
"The Turkish club signed Mostafa Mohamed in order to participate in European competitions, so it’s their right to keep him. The same goes for Liverpool.
"Mohamed Salah had a strong desire to be with the Olympic team in Tokyo and also Mostafa Mohamed, but what happened was out of their control."
Unlike the World Cup, AFCON or the European Championship, Liverpool have no obligation to release players for the Olympics.
As the Olympics will be held from July 21 to August 7, taking part in the competition would have seen Salah miss a large chunk of the Liverpool pre-season;
