Liverpool's Salah questions UEFA 'Palestinian Pele' tribute
The Egyptian star, who is one of the best-known Arab soccer players in the world, on Saturday highlighted how UEFA's post on X did not say how al-Obeid died.
According to the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), al-Obeid was shot by Israeli forces while civilians were waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip.
What did UEFA say about Suleiman al-Obeid?
In a message on X, UEFA called Obeid "a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times."
"He gave his talent and dedication to the children of Gaza and gave their dreams a hope to blossom despite the suffering," the statement read. "His death is a great loss to the world of football and to everyone who recognises the power of sport to unite people.'
What did Mo Salah say?
In a reply to that post, Salah asked : "Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?'
The Egyptian striker, one of the English Premier League's biggest stars, has repeatedly called for increased humanitarian access into Gaza.
In October 2023, shortly after the war began, Salah urged "world leaders to come together" to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to "prevent further slaughter of innocent souls."
How did Suleiman al-Obeid die?
The PFA said the 41-year-old Obeid was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces attacked a group of civilians gathered for humanitarian aid distribution in southern Gaza.
Born in Gaza City, Obeid was married with five children and played 24 international matches for Palestine. He was known as the Palestinian Pele, after the Brazilian footballer considered by many to be the best of all time.
Obeid earned 24 caps for the Palestinian national team and scored twice — including a dazzling scissors kick goal against Yemen in the 2010 West Asian Football Federation Championship
UEFA lists team Palestine, recognized as a national team in 1998, at 129th in its world rankings.
What have football figures said about Gaza before?
Salah is not the only Premier League personality to talk publicly about Gaza. In June, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave an emotional speech while being honored by the University of Manchester.
The 54-year-old said in excerpts shared on social media: "It's so painful what we see in Gaza, it hurts my whole body."
He added: "Let me be clear, it's not about ideology. It's not about whether I'm right, or you're wrong. It's just about the love of life, about the care of your neighbor."
In late 2023, Bundesliga club Mainz dismissed Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi, now playing for Welsh side Cardiff City, over social media posts related to the conflict. A court later ruled that comments did not warrant the immediate halting of his working relationship with the club.
The PFA says 325 people in the Palestinian football community have died in the conflict since October 2023.
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Times of Oman
a day ago
- Times of Oman
Liverpool's Salah questions UEFA 'Palestinian Pele' tribute
Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah criticized European football's governing body UEFA over its tribute to former Palestinian international Suleiman al-Obeid. The Egyptian star, who is one of the best-known Arab soccer players in the world, on Saturday highlighted how UEFA's post on X did not say how al-Obeid died. According to the Palestinian Football Association (PFA), al-Obeid was shot by Israeli forces while civilians were waiting for aid in the southern Gaza Strip. What did UEFA say about Suleiman al-Obeid? In a message on X, UEFA called Obeid "a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times." "He gave his talent and dedication to the children of Gaza and gave their dreams a hope to blossom despite the suffering," the statement read. "His death is a great loss to the world of football and to everyone who recognises the power of sport to unite people.' What did Mo Salah say? In a reply to that post, Salah asked : "Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?' The Egyptian striker, one of the English Premier League's biggest stars, has repeatedly called for increased humanitarian access into Gaza. In October 2023, shortly after the war began, Salah urged "world leaders to come together" to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to "prevent further slaughter of innocent souls." How did Suleiman al-Obeid die? The PFA said the 41-year-old Obeid was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces attacked a group of civilians gathered for humanitarian aid distribution in southern Gaza. Born in Gaza City, Obeid was married with five children and played 24 international matches for Palestine. He was known as the Palestinian Pele, after the Brazilian footballer considered by many to be the best of all time. Obeid earned 24 caps for the Palestinian national team and scored twice — including a dazzling scissors kick goal against Yemen in the 2010 West Asian Football Federation Championship UEFA lists team Palestine, recognized as a national team in 1998, at 129th in its world rankings. What have football figures said about Gaza before? Salah is not the only Premier League personality to talk publicly about Gaza. In June, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola gave an emotional speech while being honored by the University of Manchester. The 54-year-old said in excerpts shared on social media: "It's so painful what we see in Gaza, it hurts my whole body." He added: "Let me be clear, it's not about ideology. It's not about whether I'm right, or you're wrong. It's just about the love of life, about the care of your neighbor." In late 2023, Bundesliga club Mainz dismissed Dutch winger Anwar El Ghazi, now playing for Welsh side Cardiff City, over social media posts related to the conflict. A court later ruled that comments did not warrant the immediate halting of his working relationship with the club. The PFA says 325 people in the Palestinian football community have died in the conflict since October 2023.
Observer
a day ago
- Observer
Salah criticises UEFA for 'Palestinian Pele' tribute: n'Tell us how he died'
London - Liverpool's Mohamed Salah has criticised Europe's football governing body UEFA for posting a tribute to "Palestinian Pele" Suleiman al-Obeid, which did not mention that the former international died after being hit by Israeli gunfire in the Gaza Strip. Obeid, 41, was killed on Wednesday when Israeli forces "targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip", the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) said in a statement. Europe's football governing body UEFA posted on X: "Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the 'Palestinian Pele'. A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times." Egyptian striker Salah responded by posting: "Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?" Born in Gaza City, Obeid was married and had five children. He played 24 international matches for the team Palestine. In October 2023, Salah called on "world leaders to come together" to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to "prevent further slaughter of innocent souls". Since the start of the Gaza war, 662 people from the sport and scouting sector have been killed, including 321 in the football community, according to the PFA. Salah, who was the Premier League top scorer last season, is due to line up for Liverpool on Sunday in the Community Shield at Wembley against Crystal Palace, the traditional curtain-raiser to the English football season.
Times of Oman
2 days ago
- Times of Oman
Tourism gets a boost as players showcase their skills at Jabal Akhdar padel court
Jabal Akhdar: Top padel players from Oman and foreign countries descended at Jabal Akhdar to take part in the tournament organised by the dusitD2 Naseem Resort on Friday. With an aim to promote tourism along with sport, the tournament gathered tennis connoisseurs and curious visitors. While talking about the tournament preparation, Jagdeep Thakral, General Manager at dusitD2 Naseem, said: 'Our hotel's vision is to become an integrated resort. Earlier, we were projected as a family resort but as we started hosting corporate meetings and school groups, we are positioning ourselves as an integrated tourism resort.' The General Manger said that our integrated complex idea is built on 5 or 6 pillars. 'The first pillar is adventure for which we have built an adventure park, mountain biking, ski, and scooters. All related to adventure. Our second pillar is sport for which we have created facilities that no other hotel here has. We have a padel court, volleyball court. And the third pillar is culture. 'We have an Arabic restaurant with Zarb food and added Arabic band to boost the cultural aspect. It's a treat listening to the Arabic song with oudh and sumptuous Arabic platter. We are also adding Tanoura dance to entertain guests. And conserving nature by reducing carbon emission is also on our agenda.' For the green initiative, he said that we have planted 400-500 plants of roses, 200 olive trees and many more.' 'Our plan is to create a bed of flowers so that people can come and watch the amazing landscape. Our last pillar is shopping and lifestyle. For which we are trying to build a souq so that everything comes under one roof. Nobody in the mountain will give you this composite thing. The padel tournament is an extension of this vision. Once this integrated complex is ready, our resort will become people's first choice,' the General Manager added. 'We are planning a series of adventure sports activities. The first will be a mountain man challenge. Next will be the mountain man celebrity challenge, mountain man hotel challenge and next month we are planning mountain man Jabal Akhdar challenge. We will start promoting the two set padel soon. By doing this, we are trying to build every activity under our pillar vision. In the coming years, we are going to have the best team and best facilities in the mountains.'
