Pep Guardiola is one of the greatest soccer coaches of all time; there's no argument about that. Last week, he stood on the sidelines for the 1,000th time in his coaching career ("the thousand club"), and his team, Manchester City, delivered him a worthy gift in the form of a crushing 3-0 victory over major rival Liverpool.
But Guardiola isn't just a super-coach, he's also a political personality, and he doesn't usually keep his opinions private. The man, born in the town of Santpedor in Catalonia, has expressed his support multiple times in the past for granting independence to the region where he was born. These statements generated considerable anger toward him throughout Spain. Meanwhile, the Catalan struggle entered dormancy, prompting Guardiola to jump onto another political bandwagon, one less close to him, but from his perspective far more appealing and popular – support for Palestinians.
In recent days, he enlisted for the benefit of the exhibition match taking place today between the national teams of Catalonia and Palestine. The organizers hoped that recruiting a famous personality like Pep would help boost ticket sales, which would be played, rather ironically, at Montjuïc Stadium – "Mount of the Jews."
A few days ago, the Palestinian national team played against the Basque national team at San Mamés Stadium, and there was no need to promote sales there. The Basques' support for the Palestinian narrative is exceptionally strong, and all 55,000 tickets were snapped up. This isn't the situation in Barcelona, and the organizers are seeking creative ways to increase interest. The person who apparently recruited Pep to the matter is his daughter Maria, who is known as an enthusiastic supporter of the struggle against Israel. She participated in massive demonstrations in London, was seen wrapped in a keffiyeh, and shared posts accusing Israel of genocide.
There's no doubt that regarding everything connected to Catalan history, its struggle for independence and separation from Spain, Guardiola is knowledgeable and current. But regarding everything connected to what's happening in the Middle East, his knowledge is deficient at best – and borders on ignorance at worst. In an interview in Catalonia yesterday, he said, among other things, "We allowed Israel to destroy an entire people, the damage has already been done and it's irreversible," and added, "I cannot imagine anyone in the world who could justify the massacre in Gaza. Our children could have been born there and killed just because of that."
But forget about him not even being in the right direction, if he's already discussing destroying a people and about massacre, perhaps the camel Pep should look backward and see his own enormous hump. Guardiola has coached Manchester City for nearly a decade and earns about £20 million per year. The one paying him this money is essentially the UAE government, which purchased the club in 2008. The actual owner of City is the vice president of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Last week, British journalist Barney Ronay wrote in The Guardian that Sheikh Mansour's name appears in a letter that Member of Parliament Jeremy Corbyn sent to British government ministers in which he repeats a conclusion determined by the UN and the US State Department – that the UAE government (and therefore the owner of City) is providing resources and support for ethnic massacres in Sudan, so brutal that their results can be seen in satellite images from space.
The UN spoke of mass rape, ethnic-based massacre, and the threat of widespread famine. According to satellite images, piles of bodies and enormous blood stains can be seen. There are reports of the execution of 500 people in a maternity hospital. According to reports, the UAE government supports the forces of General Mohamed Hamdan, who, according to testimonies, carried out a massacre and mass rape in the besieged city of Al-Fashir. Since the fighting began about four years ago, more than 12 million people have been displaced from their homes. This is now the world's largest humanitarian crisis.
The UAE denies that it's arming any side, but as Tariq Panja reported in The New York Times, the US intercepted phone calls between General Hamdan and leaders in the UAE, including Sheikh Mansour. Jeffrey Feltman, former US envoy to the Horn of Africa, said, "We always knew that behind the scenes in Sudan was Mansour."
Is there any chance that Pep Guardiola isn't aware of the story? Is there a possibility that he doesn't understand or know who his employers are? Has he said a word on the subject? The answer to all three questions is identical: no.
And so, on a humanitarian issue among the most severe in the world, one so close to him at home, Guardiola has nothing to say. However, regarding everything connected to Middle East affairs and Gaza, which he has no connection to, and where he displays embarrassing ignorance, he continues to talk. Someone apparently needs to remind Pep of his visit to Israel 14 years ago. How he enjoyed every moment, the love he received everywhere he went, and of course, to remind him of what he said then: "My family and I are very happy to be here."
Gary Lineker, another famous soccer personality, exposed his antisemitic face in recent years and paid a price for it. Unlike him, Pep Guardiola is not antisemitic – but in his recent statements, the distinguished manager of Manchester City has proven himself to be a hypocritical man.
