Gary Lineker and Jeremy Corbyn have joined footballer Mohamed Salah in condemning Uefa’s tribute to the late Suleiman Al-Obeid, known as the “Palestinian Pele”.
Al-Obeid, 41, was killed when Israeli forces targeted civilians waiting for humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, according to the Palestine Football Association (PFA).
In a post paying tribute to the footballer on social media platform X, Uefa said: “Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pele’. A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times”.
Liverpool player Mohamed Salah, called out the governing body for failing to reference the circumstances of his death, saying: “Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?”
Now, Gary Lineker, former England footballer and TV presenter, has taken to Instagram to share an article about the backlash to Uefa’s post, writing: “We can’t hear you Uefa”.
Jeremy Corbyn has also backed Salah’s comments on X, saying: “Well said Mo!”.
Salah’s social media post has so far been viewed by 73.4 million users.
The Liverpool forward, 33, who has more than 19 million X followers, previously called for the massacres in the conflict to stop and for aid to be allowed into Gaza.
In a video posted on Instagram in October 2023, he wrote: “It is not always easy to speak in times like this. There has been too much violence and too much heartbreak and brutality.
“The escalations in the recent weeks is unbearable to witness. All lives are sacred and must be protected. The massacres need to stop. Families are being torn apart.”
The PFA said that Al-Obeid, who was married with two sons and three daughters, made 24 appearances for the national team, scoring twice.
He was nicknamed the “Palestinian Pele”, the PFA said.
At least 38 Palestinians were killed overnight on Tuesday and into Wednesday while seeking aid from United Nations convoys and sites run by an Israeli-backed American contractor, according to local health officials.
The Israeli military said it had fired warning shots when crowds approached its forces, but that it was not aware of any casualties.
Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies, said another four people were killed in the Teina area, on a route leading to a site in southern Gaza run by the Israeli-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, an American contractor. The Al-Awda Hospital said it received the bodies of six people killed near a GHF site in central Gaza. Another 12 people were killed in Israeli airstrikes, according to the two hospitals.
GHF said there were no violent incidents at or near its sites. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because its militants are entrenched in heavily populated areas.
The United Nations has said that more than 1,300 people have been killed near aid distribution sites and aid convoys in Gaza since the launch of the US and Israel-backed aid distribution system, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.
