Mohammad Salah blasts UEFA for silence on Gaza after footballer death
The post, which honored al-Obeid as "the 'Palestinian Pelé'," was immediately challenged by global football star Mohamed Salah, who publicly demanded details about the athlete's death.
Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the 'Palestinian Pelé'.
A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times. pic.twitter.com/wGSXCq2ceo
— UEFA (@UEFA) August 8, 2025
On a Friday, UEFA's official account on the social media platform X posted a tribute celebrating al-Obeid as "a talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times".
The post, however, provided no details about the cause of his death. This stood in stark contrast to a statement from the Palestine Football Association (PFA), which said the 41-year-old was killed on a Wednesday in southern Gaza by an "Israeli strike targeting civilians waiting for humanitarian aid".
Liverpool and Egypt star Mohamed Salah responded to UEFA's post by quote-tweeting: "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
The incident has highlighted a long-standing critique of UEFA's policy of avoiding political statements in football.
Human rights groups have accused the organization of "dangerous double standards," noting its swift decision to suspend most Russian teams after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine while its Secretary General, Theodore Theodoridis, has refused to consider similar action against 'Israeli' teams.
The PFA has also reported that al-Obeid's death is part of a broader toll on Palestinian sports, with at least 662 athletes and their relatives, including 421 footballers, killed since the conflict began.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Roya News
an hour ago
- Roya News
Trump expects 'constructive conversation' with Putin
US President Donald Trump said Monday he expects to have "constructive conversations" with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin and expressed displeasure with Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky for ruling out territorial concessions. The US president has spent the first months of his second term in office trying to broker peace in Ukraine -- after boasting he could end the conflict in 24 hours -- but multiple rounds of talks, phone calls and diplomatic visits have failed to yield a breakthrough. Trump and Putin will hold a summit in Alaska on Friday in a bid to halt the conflict, which was triggered by Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It will be the first between sitting US and Russian presidents since Joe Biden met Putin in Geneva in June 2021. "I'm going to speak to Vladimir Putin and I'm going to be telling him 'you've got to end this war,'" Trump told a White House press conference, saying that he would "like to see a ceasefire very, very quickly." "I think we'll have constructive conversations," said the president, noting that he would seek out Putin's "parameters" for peace, then call Zelensky and other European leaders right after the meeting. Trump said last week that "there'll be some swapping of territories to the betterment of both" Ukraine and Russia -- a suggestion Zelensky rejected. 'There'll be some swapping' The Ukrainian president warned Saturday that "decisions without Ukraine" would not bring peace and said his country's people "will not give their land to the occupier." Trump said he was a "little bothered" by Zelensky's stance on territorial concessions, and insisted that land swaps would take place. "There'll be some swapping, there'll be some changes in land," he said. But Trump also stated that he would not make a unilateral agreement: "I'm not going to make a deal, it's not up to me to make a deal," he said, while emphasizing that he thinks "a deal should be made." Three rounds of negotiations between Russia and Ukraine have failed to bear fruit, and it remains unclear whether the Trump-Putin summit would bring peace any closer. Russian bombardments have forced millions of people to flee their homes and have destroyed swathes of eastern and southern Ukraine, and Putin has resisted multiple calls from the United States, Europe and Kyiv for a ceasefire. Trump said he will know fairly quickly into the talks with Putin whether or not a deal would be coming, and that he may still walk away from trying to broker peace in Ukraine. "I may leave and say good luck and that'll be the end. I may say this is not going to be settled," Trump said. The US president said his aim is to bring Putin and Zelensky together, with or without being present himself. "Ultimately I'm going to put the two of them in a room, I'll be there or I won't be there, and I think it'll get solved," Trump said.
Roya News
2 hours ago
- Roya News
Italy's Meloni expresses 'deep concern' over ‘Israel's' Gaza plan
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Monday expressed "deep concern" over 'Israel's' plan to take control of Gaza City, in a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Meloni shared "her deep concern over recent Israeli decisions, which appear to be leading to further military escalation" and slammed the humanitarian situation in the Strip as "unjustifiable and unacceptable", her office said. Additionally, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto said in an interview published Monday that Italy may consider imposing sanctions on 'Israel', not as a move against the state itself, but to 'save its citizens from a government that has lost its reason and humanity.' He compared 'Israeli' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's conduct in Gaza to Russian President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, warning that recent events in Gaza and the West Bank mark a 'qualitative leap' requiring decisive action. Crosetto condemned 'Israel's' actions in Gaza as 'the pure denial of the law and the founding values of our civilization,' saying they go beyond a military operation with collateral damage, warning that the scale of civilian suffering shows 'Israeli' aggression has strayed far from legitimate self-defense. While rejecting recognition of a Palestinian state at present, calling it a 'political provocation' without a functioning state in place, the minister reaffirmed support for a two-state solution, emphasizing the need to end Hamas' rule without displacing the Palestinian people.
Roya News
2 hours ago
- Roya News
Hamas reports new attacks on ‘Israeli' forces across Gaza
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, claimed a series of attacks against 'Israeli' forces on Monday in both the southern and northern parts of the Gaza attacks included rocket and mortar attacks on command posts and the sniping of two 'Israeli' soldiers. The Al-Qassam Brigades stated they targeted an 'Israeli' command and control site on the Salah al-Din axis, near Zaroub hill, south of Rafah. The attack was carried out using its Rajoum short-range rocket system. The group also claimed to have struck another 'Israeli' command and control post on Sorani Hill, east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in eastern Gaza City, with several mortar shells. In a separate operation in the same area, Al-Qassam fighters reported sniping two 'Israeli' soldiers with an Al-Ghoul rifle. The attack left one soldier dead and another wounded, according to the statement on their official Telegram channel.
