Focus on football — Guardiola warned after comments on global conflicts

Pep Guardiola has drawn criticism after he spoke in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in Barcelona last week.

On Tuesday, he elaborated to journalists, stating that the suffering of innocent people in conflicts in Palestine, Sudan, and Ukraine "hurts" him and compels him to speak out.

These comments prompted a response from the Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester, which expressed concern that such statements could incite antisemitic acts.

"We have repeatedly asked for prominent individuals to be mindful about the words they use given how Jewish people have had to endure attacks across the globe," the council stated on X (formerly Twitter).

"Pep Guardiola is a football manager. Whilst his humanitarian reflections may be well-intentioned, he should focus on football."

The group also criticized what it called Guardiola's "total failure" to show solidarity with Manchester's Jewish community after an attack on the Heaton Park Synagogue in October, where two people were killed.

"It’s especially galling given his total failure to use his significant platform to display any solidarity with the Jewish community subjected to a terrorist attack a few miles from the Etihad Stadium," the statement continued.

Guardiola had previously affirmed his commitment to speaking on humanitarian issues, citing the "hurt" caused by global conflicts. He missed his press conference before the recent draw at Tottenham to attend the charity event in Barcelona.

Speaking ahead of City's League Cup semi-final against Newcastle, an emotional Guardiola discussed the impact of seeing news footage of children killed and injured in conflict zones worldwide.

"Never, ever in the history of humanity have we had the info in front of our eyes, watching more clearly than now – genocide in Palestine, what happened in Ukraine, what happened in Russia, what happened all around the world, in Sudan, everywhere," Guardiola said.

Guardiola insisted his stance was not political but a defense of human life. "The people who have to do that, run away from their countries, go in the sea and then go on a boat to get rescued. Don’t ask if he is right or wrong, rescue him. It is about a human being," he explained.

"Protecting the human being and human life is the only thing we have, not just in these parts of the world but every part of the world. But still right now, we kill each other. For what? When I see the images, I am sorry, it hurts."