Since the player joining Al-Masry club[2], Balah only participated in a few minutes in the beginning of the 2021-2022 season due to two consecutive outbreaks of the coronavirus in the team's camp, leading to some players and staff being isolated from training and matches[3]. Before long, he returned, but was then struck in the head, which kept him out of action. Not long after his return, he suffered a serious injury to his right knee which resulted in a cruciate ligament tear[4], requiring surgery and keeping him out of action for nearly 10 months[5][6].