UEFA is using Palestinian children as damage control

UEFA is using Palestinian children as damage control while allowing the people who want them dead to represent the brand.

Two Palestinian children accompanied the head of UEFA at the 2025 UEFA Super Cup medal ceremony.

Two Palestinian refugee children are taking part in the medal ceremony alongside UEFA President Aleksander Čeferin at the 2025 UEFA Super Cup following an invitation from the @UEFA_Foundation for Children. pic.twitter.com/YWE4vOppTL

— UEFA (@UEFA) August 13, 2025

Meanwhile, UEFA allowed three Israeli teams to play in its tournament on 14 August.

mind you maccabi tel aviv play a uefa tournament football match tomorrow. how dare you use palestinian children as damage control while allowing the very people that want them dead to represent your brand. https://t.co/VDaDawfQSG

— 🫧 (@reveaIism) August 13, 2025

Maccabi Tel Aviv, Beitar Jerusalem and Maccabi Haifa are all playing in UEFA competition tonight.

‘The message is loud and clear.’ https://t.co/GZ9cAXLKD7

— Robin Bairner (@RBairner) August 14, 2025

UEFA are parading Palestinian children around, whilst letting Israeli teams continue wearing the UEFA badge on their shirts.

And tomorrow, Maccabi Tel Aviv will take the field in a UEFA tournament. Don’t you dare parade Palestinian children as PR cover while letting the very team tied to those who want them dead wear your badge.

— Ahmed Eldin | احمد الدين (@ASE) August 14, 2025

These two Palestinian children are refugees because Israel has been occupying their land and ethnic cleansing their people for 77 years — and you still won’t hold them accountable for it.

You can’t platform them while protecting their aggressors. https://t.co/Phn62iK1u2

— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) August 13, 2025

UEFA hypocrisy

Ahead of the Super Cup final, UEFA displayed a banner which said ‘Stop Killing Children, Stop Killing Civilians’. They could have been directing it at Russia, the Congo, Sudan, or a number of other countries.

The banners did not mention Israel or Palestine, but if the shoe fits.

Stating the obvious but h/t to those good people who already said it: Neither the banner not @UEFA X post mention who or what is killing children & other civilians, but WE ALL KNOW who the perpetrator is and that includes Zionists, which is of course very telling #GazaGenocide https://t.co/UUASzrcEaY pic.twitter.com/iJAo99YejK

— Just Jews (@JustJewsUK) August 14, 2025

Zionists immediately jumped on the social media bandwagon. Because, of course, ‘stop killing children’ is ‘jew hating’.

Don’t debate Zionists, but do expose & mock them.

Associating all Jews with the well-documented *deliberate* murder of children, journalists & doctors, etc, is serious & dangerous.

It’s also a desperate attempt to threaten & smear solidarity, where that tactic no longer works pic.twitter.com/25gwo6pL7E

— Just Jews (@JustJewsUK) August 14, 2025

Virtue signalling of the highest order from .@UEFA
Why are these #Palestinian children refugees? Who made them refugees?
Disgusting using children to try and gild your tattered reputation.#RedCardIsrael
No sportwashing #Genocide in #Gaza https://t.co/5cnxthkVQ9

— RISE 4 Palestine Derry (@Rise4Pal_Derry) August 14, 2025

UEFA banned Russia from competing in its tournaments in 2022. Israel though? They allowed them to continue competing, despite trying to wipe Palestine off the map and murdering thousands of children.

Literally Israeli teams playing in Europe tmrw. Show them the red card. https://t.co/GTVqIwrb3K pic.twitter.com/aHtopZprEH

— Alex 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇵🇸 (@Al_cfc67) August 13, 2025

Palestinian footballers murdered

The Canary has previously reported on Israel murdering Palestinian footballers. However, they have not stopped.

As of November 2024, Israel had murdered 344 Palestinian footballers. Obviously, that figure will now be higher. Only last week, the ‘Palestinian Pelé’, Suleiman al-Obeid, was killed while waiting for humanitarian aid.

And this week? The terrorist state has murdered at least two more footballers.

Israel has just murdered another couple of footballers in Gaza:

Islam Mattar, 22-year-old Al-Aqsa Club forward, was shot dead by an Israeli sniper while waiting for aid.

Momen Oleiwa, Ittihad Al-Shujayya’s 23-year-old player, was bombed in an Israeli strike. pic.twitter.com/M168HzpD9N

— Abubaker Abed (@AbubakerAbedW) August 14, 2025

On July 3, Diogo Jota, the Liverpool centre-forward, was killed in a car crash with his brother.

UEFA posted on X to pay tribute.

On behalf of the European football community, we are deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of Diogo Jota, Portugal international and Liverpool FC forward, along with his brother André Silva.

Our thoughts are with their family, friends, teammates and all those affected… pic.twitter.com/kYCJiZMcX0

— UEFA (@UEFA) July 3, 2025

Whilst the organisation did post in tribute to Suleiman al-Obeid, if you compare the two posts, it leaves a lot of questions.

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

UEFA gave Jota a ‘we are deeply saddened’, whereas Suleiman? A ‘Farewell’. Anyone would think he’d just retired, not that a genocidal army had murdered him.

And what about the other over 300 footballers’ deaths? The silence from the association is deafening.

You might find this under the dictionary definition of ‘performative’.

If you wanted the textbook definition of “performative”

Look no further: https://t.co/crfPDoKxZX

— Sahal (@sahalabdi_) August 14, 2025

If UEFA were serious, and this wasn’t just some poxy PR campaign, they’d ban Israel from competing immediately. It also would not have taken them until August 8 2025, to make any mention at all of ‘Palestine’ or ‘Palestinian’ on the official Twitter account.

Featured image via the Canary