Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has openly criticized Israel’s actions in Gaza, declaring that Palestinians have been “abandoned” by the international community.
Speaking during an interview on Spanish radio station RAC1 on Monday, the 54-year-old expressed deep concern over the humanitarian crisis, saying he struggles to understand how the world has allowed the ongoing destruction.
“Every time I imagine what is happening to the people of Palestine, it’s that the whole world has left them alone,” Guardiola said. “I imagine them waiting for us to lift a finger, to do something, and no one has done anything at all. They are not to blame for being born in Palestine.”
He lamented the continuous suffering of civilians, including children, parents, and the elderly, questioning global reluctance to acknowledge the scale of the tragedy. “For a very long time, we have allowed the destruction of an entire people. They say, ‘don’t say genocide’, but I wonder what it is then. The people who live there—we’ve abandoned them.”
Guardiola added that he personally knows people from Israel who also cannot defend the disturbing images coming out of Gaza. He further criticized world leaders—including Benjamin Netanyahu, Donald Trump, Volodymyr Zelensky, and Vladimir Putin—arguing that geopolitical interests have overshadowed human suffering.
“I am absolutely taking the side of Palestine—the innocent people murdered daily. One side has extremely powerful weapons and the other does not. So you tell me,” he said.
The football manager’s remarks come ahead of Tuesday’s ACT x Palestine charity friendly match between Catalonia and Palestine at the Lluis Companys Stadium in Barcelona. More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold, with proceeds dedicated to humanitarian aid and reconstruction efforts in Gaza.
According to Gaza Health Ministry figures, around 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since the October 7, 2023 attacks.
Guardiola emphasized that the match goes beyond symbolism: “These days, everyone knows everything, and with this game, Palestinians will see that there’s a part of the world that cares about them.”
