The Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has criticised Uefa’s tribute to a player known as the “Palestinian Pelé” after European football’s governing body failed to make any reference to the circumstances of his death this week.
The Palestine Football Association (PFA) said that Suleiman al-Obeid, 41, was killed by an Israeli strike while waiting for humanitarian aid in the 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 shared the post with the comment: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”
Salah, 33, has previously called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.
Gary Lineker, the former Match of the Day host who was sacked by the BBC after he was forced to apologise for reposting an antisemitic trope in relation to the Gaza conflict, shared Salah’s message before adding: “We can’t hear you Uefa.”
The statement from the PFA said that armed personnel had “targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip”.
Al-Obeid was born in Gaza in 1984 and played 24 games for the Palestinian national team after making his debut in 2007.
Al-Obeid played 24 international matches for the Palestinian national side
A former star of the Khadamat al-Shati club in Gaza, the midfielder also played for the Al-Amari Youth Center Club in the West Bank.
“During his long career, Al-Obeid scored more than 100 goals, making him one of the brightest stars of Palestinian football,” the PFA added.
Al-Obeid was married and had five children.
Since the start of the war in Gaza — triggered by the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 — 662 people from the sport and scouting sector have been killed, including 321 in the football community, according to the PFA.
Uefa has declined to comment.