On Monday, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Manchester. The accolade recognized his contributions to the city, both on and off the pitch. During his acceptance speech, Guardiola addressed the situation in Gaza amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. He expressed personal anguish over the events unfolding in the region.
"It's incredibly painful, what we're seeing in Gaza. It hurts my whole body," Guardiola said. "And I want to make it clear, it's not about ideology. It's not about me being right and you being wrong. Come on. This is simply about the love of life, about caring for your neighbor. Maybe we think it's none of our busines, seeing four-year-old children killed in bombings or dying in a hospital that no that's no longer a hosptal. It's not our business. The next one will be ours. the next four, five year old kids will be ours."
He went on: "I'm sorry, but since this nightmare began, every morning when I look at my children, I'm afraid. Maybe the image feels distant from where we live, and it's easy to ask: What can we do?"
One of the most celebrated football managers of all time, Guardiola also made a broader, somewhat ambiguous comment about the various wars taking place around the world in October 2024: "Look at what's happening today in the world, these wars are taking place because people think they're better than others." He continued: "What's happening in Russia, Ukraine, Israel-Gaza, and parts of Africa is terrible. The belief that you're better than the other side is wrong, because you're not."
