Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has used the occasion of receiving an honorary degree from The University of Manchester to share his thoughts on the war in Gaza.
Speaking at the ceremony on Monday, the 54-year-old began his emotionally-charged speech by saying: “It’s so painful what we see in Gaza. It hurts me all my body. And let me be clear, it’s not about ideology, it’s not about I’m right or you’re wrong.
"Come on. It’s just about the love of life. About the care of your neighbour.”
The manager, who has won six Premier League titles with City went on to tell the audience: “Maybe we think that we see the boys and girls of four years old being killed for the bomb, or being killed at the hospital because it’s not hospital anymore, it’s not our business.
"Yeah fine, we can think about that, it’s not our business. But be careful.
“The next one will be ours. The next four, five years old kids will be ours. Sorry that I see my kids, Maria, Màrius and Valentina when I see every morning, since the nightmare started, the infants in Gaza. And I’m so scared.”
The Catalonian-native finished by recounting a fable about a bird attempting to put out a forest fire, concluding: “The bird knows it doesn’t stop the fire, but it refused to do nothing.
"In a world that often tells us we are too small to make a difference, that story reminds me the power of one is not about the scale, it’s about choice. About showing up. About refusing to be silent or still when it matters most.”
Although he hasn’t previously spoken publicly about the Israel-Hamas war, this is far from the first time that the Spaniard has shared political views.
In 2018 he was fined £20,000 by the Football Association after he ignored previous warnings and breached their kit and advertising regulations by wearing a yellow ribbon pitchside in solidarity with imprisoned Catalonian politicians.
