Pep Guardiola, the manager of Manchester City, has once again spoken out against Israel’s genocide in Gaza, as well as condemning wars in Ukraine and Sudan and the killing of US citizens by ICE agents.
Last week, the football coach joined a charity event in Barcelona, where he wore a Palestinian keffiyeh and condemned global silence over the suffering of Palestinian children in Gaza.
He was asked on Tuesday, in a pre-match press conference ahead of a Carabao Cup match against Newcastle United, why he had chosen to take a stance.
“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 Russia, what happened all around the world, in Sudan, everywhere.
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“What happened in front of us? Do you want to see it? It’s our problems as human beings. It’s our problems.”
He said that watching images from war-torn countries hurt him deeply.
“Wanting harm for another country? It hurts me. To completely kill thousands of innocent people, it hurts me. It’s no more complicated than that. No more.
“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.”
The Spanish football coach said that despite technological and human advances, killing was still taking place.
“That is why in every position I can help by speaking up to be a better society, I will try and will be there. From my point of view, the justice? You have to talk.”
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said it is ‘clear’ that there is a genocide in Palestine.
He went on to say that seeing images from Sudan, Palestine and Ukraine ‘hurts’ him.https://t.co/Nzi5VvRBJH pic.twitter.com/88KsLRLDtE
— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 4, 2026
The football coach also commented on the recent fatal killings of two US citizens by law enforcement officials.
“Look what happened in the United States of America, Renee Good and Alex Pretti have been killed,” said Guardiola, who then asked what would happen if a nurse like Pretti were shot in the UK.
“Tell me how you can defend that?” he asked.
Man City’s alleged links to Sudan atrocities
Guardiola has won six Premier League titles as manager of Manchester City, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport.
He spoke publicly about Israel’s war on Gaza last year, too, while receiving an honorary degree from the University of Manchester for his contribution to the city in northern England.
Guardiola said at the time that he was “deeply troubled” by images he had seen “in Ukraine, in Sudan and in Palestine, in Gaza”.
“We see the horrors of thousands and thousands of innocent children, innocent mothers and fathers, innocent entire families, suffering, starving, being killed.” He said that despite this, many leaders “don’t consider the inequality”.
“It’s so painful what we see in Gaza. It hurts my whole body,” he said at the time.
Khaldoon al-Mubarak, Manchester City’s chairman who also serves as a UAE government official, was one of the signatories of US President Donald Trump’s controversial “Board of Peace” initiative in Gaza.
Rare protest held at Manchester City over UAE owner’s link to Sudan war
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While Guardiola has been praised for speaking out, his club Manchester City has been criticised over its owner’s alleged complicity in the Sudan war.
Since 2008, Manchester City has been owned by Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s vice president, deputy prime minister, and brother to the country’s ruler, Mohammed bin Zayed.
Extensive reporting has shown that the UAE is one of the main supporters of the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary in Sudan, supplying the group with weapons through a complex network stretching across Libya, Chad, Uganda and Somalia. The UAE has long denied that it assists the RSF.
According to phone calls intercepted by the US, Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo – the RSF chief commonly known as Hemedti – has a direct line to Mansour.
The calls led American officials to conclude that the Manchester City owner has played a central role in arming the paramilitary group.
Mohannad Taha, an activist at Manchester4Sudan, told Middle East Eye last month that while Guardiola condemned wars in Palestine and Sudan, “no connections are made” with the Manchester City owner’s alleged complicity in the latter.
