A banner unfurled on the green pitch at the Stadio Friuli in Italy’s Udine on Wednesday night before the whistle blew and the ball rolled for the Uefa Super Cup finals between Paris Saint-Germain and Tottenham Hotspurs, a week after Suleiman Al-Obeid, one of the finest Palestinian footballers, was killed in an Israeli attack.
“Stop killing children.”
“Stop killing civilians.”
The banner in white and blue stated, while players from both the clubs looked on, with no mention either of the footballer or the children in Gaza.
Suleiman al-Obeid (X/@UEFA)
“From the UEFA Super Cup in Udine, the message is loud and clear. A banner. A call,” read a post from Uefa, the European football governing body, on X (formerly Twitter) along with a picture of the banner.
The banner was carried into the field by nine children, all from conflict zones across the world like Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Palestine and Ukraine, now living as refugees in Italy.
On August 6, Suleiman Al-Obeid, dubbed the Pele of Palestinian football, was killed in an Israeli attack on people waiting near an aid distribution centre in southern Gaza.
“Former national team player and star of the Khadamat al Shati team, Suleiman Al-Obeid, was martyred after the Israeli occupation forces targeted those waiting for humanitarian aid in the southern Gaza strip on Wednesday,” a statement from the Palestinian Football Association said.
Al-Obeid, according to Al-Jazeera, is among the 321 footballers, coaches, administrators, referees and club board members Israel has killed.
A day after Al-Obeid was killed Uefa paid a two-line tribute with no mention of how the Palestinian star footballer had died.
“Farewell to Suleiman al-Obeid, the ‘Palestinian Pele.’ A talent who gave hope to countless children, even in the darkest of times,” it said.
Two Palestinian refugee children are taking part in the medal ceremony alongside UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin at the 2025 UEFA Super Cup (X/@UEFA)
Uefa’s silence on Al-Obeid’s killing was questioned by the Egyptian World Cup player and Liverpool star Mohammed Salah.
“Can you tell us how he died, where, and why?” Salah had asked.
Uefa is yet to answer Salah’s question.
On Wednesday late night India time, when PSG defeated the Spurs to lift the Uefa Super Cup, the football governing body’s president Aleksander Ceferin was joined by two Palestinian kids – 12-year-old Tala and nine-year-old Mohammad, at the medal ceremony.
Tala, a Palestinian girl with health issues, was moved to Milan for treatment away from her home where most hospitals have been destroyed. Mohammad along with his grandmother left Gaza for Milan after his parents were killed in an Israeli airstrike and the boy sustained serious injuries.