Salah criticises UEFA tribute to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pele’

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has criticised a UEFA tribute to the late Suleiman al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pele”, after European football’s governing body failed to reference the circumstances surrounding his killing this week.

The Palestine Football Association said Al-Obeid, 41, was killed by an Israeli attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.

In a brief post on X, UEFA called the former national team member “a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times”.

Salah responded on Saturday: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Bassil Mikdadi, the founder of Football Palestine, said he did not expect the football body to respond to the criticism.

“UEFA have not issued a follow-up, and frankly, I’d be surprised if they do,” he said, citing the “complete silence” of football and players bodies since the start of the war on Gaza.

Even UEFA’s tribute to al-Obeid “was a bit of a surprise”, Mikdadi said.

“Suleiman al-Obeid is not the first Palestinian footballer to perish in this genocide – there’s been over 400 – but he’s by far the most prominent as of now.”

Salah, one of the Premier League’s biggest stars, has advocated for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza during the nearly two-year-long war.

But some responding to Salah’s post asked why it had taken the 33-year-old Egyptian so long to weigh in on Israel’s genocidal war.

The United Nations said more than 1,000 people have been killed near aid distribution sites and aid convoys in Gaza since the launch of the GHF, a United States- and Israel-backed aid distribution system, in late May.

Courtesy: aljazeera