August 11 – Liverpool and Egypt forward Mohamed Salah’s comment on UEFA’s tribute to the late Suleiman Al-Obeid following his death in Gaza at the hands of Israel military forces, has again triggered calls for Israel’s suspension from international football.
In a brief post on the social media platform X, Uefa called the 41-year-old former national team member – tagged the ‘Palestinian Pele’ -“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?”
The Palestine Football Association (PFA) answered that question: Al-Obeid was killed by an Israeli strike targeting civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday.
This adds to a crushing and growing toll. The Palestinian Olympic Committee (POC) has reported that in July alone, the Israeli regime killed 40 Palestinian athletes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank. That adds to another 800 since the conflict began in October 2023.
The PFA announced on Saturday that 325 players, coaches, administrators, referees and club board members in the Palestinian soccer community have died in the Israeli-Hamas conflict since its beginning.
The PFA later posted a statement on its Facebook page attributed to Uefa President Aleksander Ceferin, calling Al-Obeid “proof of the joy that can flourish in the hearts of people despite hardship.
“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.”
UEFA stopped short of getting involved in the political debate over whether Israel – a UEFA member – should be sanctioned.
At the last FIFA Congress in Paraguay in May, FIFA and its administration kicked the issue of Israeli settlement clubs into the long grass, a tradition the world governing body has maintained for more than a decade.
At the end of her intervention at the 75th FIFA Congress in Asuncion, Susan Shalabi, the vice-president of the Palestinian FA (PFA), said: “Let’s not keep passing the bucket from one committee to another while football in Palestine is being erased.”
But minutes later, FIFA secretary general Mattias Grafstrom did just that, saying: “The matter was discussed by the governance, audit and compliance committee and the work of the governance, audit and compliance committee remains on-going, as does the investigation of the disciplinary committee.”
The Palestinians have been campaigning for action against settlements clubs for 15 years, but FIFA have each and every time manoeuvred to dodge a final decision on the matter. Brought into sharp focus by Israel’s invasion of Gaza, the complaint has taken on a sharper political and humanitarian focus.
Al-Obeid’s death prompted UN special rapporteur for human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, to call on UEFA to expel Israel from competitions.
“Let’s make sport apartheid and genocide free. One ball, one kick at a time,” Francesca Albanese said on her X account on Sunday.
“Time to expel its killers from competitions, @UEFA,” the UN rapporteur said.
See: Palestine FA wins warmth of FIFA Congress but is brutally shut down by FIFA Executive https://www.insideworldfootball.com/2025/05/16/palestine-fa-wins-warmth-fifa-congress-brutally-shut-fifa-executive/
Contact the writer of this story, Harry Ewing, at [moc.l1754910387labto1754910387ofdlr1754910387owedi1754910387sni@g1754910387niwe.1754910387yrrah1754910387](javascript:;)