‘Tell us how he died’: Salah takes issue with UEFA’s homage to ‘Palestinian Pele’
Mohamed Salah, a striker for Liverpool, criticized UEFA’s memorial service for the late Suleiman Al-Obeid, sometimes known as the “Palestinian Pele,” on Saturday when the organization that oversees European soccer neglected to mention the circumstances of his passing this week.
Al-Obeid, 41, was murdered Wednesday by an Israeli strike that targeted people in the southern Gaza Strip who were waiting for humanitarian relief, according to the Palestine Football Association.
UEFA described the former member of the national squad as “a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times” in a brief post on the social media site X.
“Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?” Salah asked.
UEFA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
In the nearly two-year-old conflict, 33-year-old Egyptian Salah, one of the Premier League’s top stars, has already argued for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Later, the PFA claimed that Al-Obeid was “proof of the joy that can flourish in the hearts of people despite hardship” in a statement that was uploaded on its Facebook page and credited to UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
“He gave his talent and dedication to the children of Gaza and gave their dreams a hope to blossom despite the suffering,” the statement continued.
“His death is a great loss to the world of football and to everyone who recognises the power of sport to unite people.”
325 Palestinian soccer players, coaches, officials, referees, and club board members have lost their lives in the Israeli-Hamas conflict since October 2023, the PFA announced on Saturday.
The conflict started on October 7, 2023, when Hamas, the main Palestinian militant organization in Gaza, launched a cross-border raid on southern Israel, killing almost 1,200 people and capturing over 250 prisoners, according to Israeli officials.
According to the UN, Israel’s ensuing air and ground campaign has destroyed entire neighborhoods in Gaza, forced the majority of the 2.3 million residents to flee their homes, and brought the enclave dangerously close to starvation.
Since the start of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an assistance distribution organization supported by the United States and Israel, in late May, the UN reports that more than 1,000 individuals have been killed close to humanitarian distribution facilities and aid convoys in Gaza.
