ONE | system 11/05/2024 08:30
Pep Guardiola (Reuters)
Since the seventh of October, many athletes, with an emphasis on footballers, have expressed their opinion on what is happening in the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. Most of them, partly due to lack of knowledge and partly due to identification with Islam, embraced the Palestinian narrative, but did the coach of Manchester City, Pep Guardiola, also provide a statement regarding the war in Israel?
There is no unequivocal answer to this question, but from the words of the coach at the press conference of the English champions before the match against Nottingham Forest, it can be understood that he most likely meant the war in the Middle East.
The coach was asked if he sees himself in the future, after his coaching career, working at FIFA or UEFA in order to correct problems of the organizations that manage world football.
The coach replied: “Everyone looks at their own house… look at what’s happening all over the world.” We sit here and do nothing. It’s here, just around the corner. There is so much injustice, all over the world, and we just sit here and do nothing, ‘these are the neighbors’, ‘it doesn’t matter’. Everyone only looks at themselves.” By the way, Pep’s reaction “fired up” a lot of pro-Palestinian users on the networks, who reacted en masse when they were sure that the super coach expressed sympathy with the citizens of Gaza.
It is not clear what Pep meant exactly, when it could also be a reference to the war between Russia and Ukraine, also to the war in the Middle East or maybe both. What is certain, if and when the coach spoke about Israel, then it is the most senior figure in the world of football who provided a statement on the subject.
