Mohamed Salah Faces Backlash Over UEFA Palestinian Player Post

Liverpool striker and Egypt national team captain Mohamed Salah is under fire in the UK after posting a sharp criticism of UEFA for honoring Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid, who the Palestinian Football Association claims was killed in Gaza last week.

Salah’s post on X asked UEFA to “explain how, where, and why he died,” accusing the organization of failing to disclose the circumstances of al-Obeid’s death. Palestinian sources alleged he was killed by Israeli fire while waiting for humanitarian aid; Israel has denied targeting civilians, stating that warning shots were fired at those approaching IDF troops.

Responding directly, IDF International Spokesperson Lt. Col. Nadav Shoshani wrote to Salah: “Hi Mohamed, after an initial check, we found no record of any incidents involving Suleiman al-Obeid. To review this closely, we would need more details.”

Former BBC pundit Gary Lineker echoed Salah’s criticism, prompting a fierce response from The Telegraph’s Oliver Brown. Brown accused Salah and Lineker of “one-sided morality,” noting that they ignored the murder of former Israeli footballer Lior Asulin at the Nova music festival on October 7 — the same day 1,195 Israelis were slaughtered by Hamas in the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

The destruction caused by Hamas terrorists in Kibbutz Nir Oz on October 7 massacre, near the Israeli-Gaza border, in southern Israel (Photo by Yaniv Nadav/Flash90)

Brown wrote that Salah’s so-called moral compass “chose to stay silent” on the massacre, posting only a trivial comment about Tottenham Hotspur’s place in the league table that day. He also pointed out that UEFA has no formal obligation to address the Palestinian player’s death since Palestine belongs to the Asian Football Confederation, while the killing of Asulin — in a terror attack inside Israel, a full UEFA member — went entirely unacknowledged by both UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin and Lineker.

Nova festival memorial site (Photo: Jose HERNANDEZ Camera 51/ Shutterstock)

Critics say Salah’s outrage is selective, overlooking Egypt’s own role in keeping the Rafah crossing closed to injured Gazans — a matter Brown argued Salah should address at home before taking moral shots online.

Brown concluded: “It is hard to take seriously those who present themselves as moral authorities while ignoring the murder of an Israeli footballer and the mass slaughter of Jews that ignited this war.”