Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has powerfully reaffirmed his support for the Palestinian people, vowing to continue using his platform to speak out against what he described as the "genocide in Palestine" and other global conflicts.
Speaking at a pre-match press conference ahead of his team’s League Cup tie against Tottenham, the Catalan coach delivered an impassioned plea for humanity, highlighting the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere.
“Never, ever in the history of humanity have we had the information in front of our eyes watching more clearly than now,” Guardiola told reporters. “The genocide in Palestine, what happened in Ukraine... what happened in front of us? Do you want to see it? It’s our problems as human beings.”
His voice filled with emotion, Guardiola condemned the killing of innocent lives. “Wanting harm for another country? It hurts me. To completely kill thousands of innocent people, it hurts me... When you have an idea and you need to defend it, and you have to kill thousands, thousands of people? I’m sorry, I will stand up. Always, I will be there, always.”
This marks the second time in five days Guardiola has addressed the crisis. On January 29, he wore a keffiyeh at a charity event in Spain and condemned global silence over the suffering of Palestinian children, stating, “We have left them alone, abandoned.”
He also referenced recent fatal shootings by U.S. law enforcement under President Donald Trump's crackdown, asking, “Look what happened in the United States of America... Imagine [someone from] the NHS... was shot. Tell me how you can defend that?”
Guardiola, one of the few top-level sports figures to consistently speak on the issue, stressed that the protection of human life was paramount. He called for collective effort towards justice and a better society, asserting his role in that mission. “From my point of view, the justice? You have to talk.”
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