Image source, Getty ImagesPep Guardiola defended his stance of speaking up about global conflicts by asking, “why should I not express what I feel, just because I am a manager?”
On Tuesday, the Manchester City boss said he wants to use his position to “speak up to be a better society” as he talked at a football news conference about the “hurt” he feels for victims of global conflict.
Guardiola received both praise and criticism for his passionate words, with Jewish community leaders advising the Spaniard to “focus on football” and “be more careful in his future language”.
But the 55-year-old did not back down when asked to respond to those comments by BBC Sport, saying: “To be honest, I didn’t say anything special. I don’t feel that.”
Last week, Guardiola gave a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in his home city of Barcelona.
He used the news conference before Manchester City‘s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle to speak about children being killed and injured in conflict zones across the world, saying the footage he sees “hurts me”.
He referenced conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan and even recent shootings by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents in the United States.
The Jewish Representative Council of Greater Manchester & Region said Manchester City have been “let down” by Guardiola “repeatedly straying into commentary on international affairs”.
Speaking in his news conference before Sunday’s Premier League game at Liverpool, Guardiola said: “Why should I not express what I feel, just because I am a manager? I don’t agree but I respect absolutely all opinions.
“What I said basically is how many conflicts are there right now all around the world? How many? A lot – I condemn all of them.
“If innocent people are [being] killed, I condemn them all and not putting a selection on one being [more] important than the other – not this country is [more important] than the other one.
“If you don’t understand my message it’s fine. I cannot say otherwise.”
Asked whether he will now stick to speaking about football, Guardiola replied: “OK you focus on being a journalist and you cannot talk about the economy, because you are not an economic journalist.
“[Being] involved in football, don’t talk about that or that or that. That’s why the world remains silent, that is what the world wants, right? Be silent, don’t say anything.
“I think it is completely the opposite but anyway, it is what it is.”
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