National Football League’s (NFL’s) Houston Texans linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair has been fined more than $11,000 by the NFL on Wednesday for writing the name of a Palestinian girl, Hind Rajab, on his eye black during last weekend's game against the Buffalo Bills.

The $11,941 fine was levied, citing league rules that bar players from displaying personal or political messages on game day without prior approval.

Rajab, five, was killed in Gaza in 2024 after Israeli troops opened fire on her family's car, a death later depicted in an Oscar-nominated docu-drama.

Al-Shaair, 29, was fined for a similar breach last season, when he wrote "Stop The Genocide" on his nose tape during a game.

The Florida-born Muslim player has repeatedly spoken about Gaza. "On either side, people losing their life is not right," he told the Houston Chronicle in 2024.

Shortly after the penalty was reported, National Basketball Association (NBA) star Kyrie Irving swiftly offered to cover the fine.

"I'll take care of his fine," the Dallas Mavericks guard wrote on social media on Wednesday.

Irving, a nine-time NBA All-Star, has voiced support for Palestinians before. He wore a shirt reading "PRESS" at February's All-Star Game to honour journalists killed in Gaza.

He has also worn a keffiyeh at a news conference and a chain shaped like Israel's landmass but coloured with the Palestinian flag.

The NFL's rules permit approved tributes, such as jersey patches marking anniversaries, but explicitly exclude messages tied to "political activities or causes."

Critics online called the fine unfair, with US Muslim scholar Omar Suleiman asking on social media whether honouring a Palestinian child was treated differently to honouring Anne Frank.

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations also backed Al-Shaair, saying his message reflected "basic human decency and concern for innocent lives."