Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has criticised the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA)’s 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 death this week.
The Palestine Football Association said that 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 the social media platform X, UEFA called the former national team member “a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times”.
Salah responded: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”
Can you tell us how he died, where, and why? https://t.co/W7HCyVVtBE
— Mohamed Salah (@MoSalah) August 9, 2025
UEFA was not immediately available to comment when contacted by the Reuters news agency.
One of the Premier League’s biggest stars, the 33-year-old Egyptian, Salah, has previously advocated for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza during the nearly two-year-long war.
The United Nations says that 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.
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