Liverpool's Salah slams UEFA for omitting cause of ‘Palestinian Pele’ Al-Obeid’s death

Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah has criticised UEFA for paying tribute to Palestinian football icon Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pele”, without mentioning that he was allegedly killed in an Israeli airstrike while waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza.

The Palestine Football Association said Al-Obeid, 41, was killed by an Israeli strike targeting 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?”

UEFA was not immediately available to comment.

One of the Premier League’s biggest stars, the 33-year-old Egyptian Salah, has previously called for humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza during the nearly two-year-long war.

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