Tehran: United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, has urged international sports bodies to bar Israeli teams from global competitions. The call on Sunday followed the killing of a former Palestinian national footballer in an Israeli attack.

According to Islamic Republic News Agency, Albanese expressed her views on social media platform X, stating it was ‘time to expel killers from competitions.’ Her call to action emphasized the need to make sports free from apartheid and genocide, encapsulated in her words, ‘One ball, one kick at the time.’

Suleiman Al-Obeid, 41, a former captain of Palestine’s national football team, was killed on Wednesday while waiting for food in a US-led aid delivery center in southern Gaza.