It was a tackle that resonated across the Arab world. When Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah left the field in tears with a dislocated shoulder during the Champions League final last week, his fans were in uproar.
They blamed Spanish footballer Sergio Ramos not only for the controversial tackle but for also potentially keeping Salah from Egypt's World Cup campaign, which opens this month. Some Egyptian taxi drivers have even speculated that Mr Ramos was an assassin sent by Israel to take down Egypt's football star.
But, as Syrian law students have been asked to demonstrate, Mr Ramos was not criminally liable for his actions.
First-year law students at the University of Damascus sat their General Penal Code exam on Sunday. A Facebook page for the Faculty of Law Quneitra Branch later shared photos of the test paper, which include the following question:
"Sergio Ramos injured Mohamed Salah in the 2018 European Champions League final. Naturally, Ramos cannot be held to account for this action from a criminal law perspective due to four conditions that make the use of violence justified in sports. State these conditions."
One Facebook user, Essa AL Bader explained why Ramos could not be held liable according to the Syrian penal code: The game is an established one with recognised rules; the injured player agreed to play the game; the player who caused the injury, in his own mind, was taking into account the rules of play; and the injury occurred during play.
Students commented on the post in good humour, saying it was an easy question.
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More on Mohamed Salah:
John McAuley: Mohamed Salah's fitness race has Egypt and World Cup rivals waiting with bated breath
Egypt's Mohamed Salah out for up to four weeks says Liverpool physio
Mohamed Salah: I'm a fighter and confident I'll recover from injury in time for World Cup
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