FROM the touchline of the City of Manchester Stadium to the stage of the Palau Sant Jordi arena in Barcelona, it was a busy week for Pep Guardiola.

The Manchester City manager was appearing at the event, Act X Palestine Concert Manifest, in his native Catalonia, organised to show solidarity with Palestine and to raise funds for projects on the ground in Gaza.

The event featured musicians from the local area, high-profile Spanish artists, and groups from France, Mali, and Palestine, in a bid to raise international awareness.

It’s not the first time Guardiola has added his high-profile voice to the Palestinian cause.

It’s a move that goes against the tendency of many working in sports, and indeed other industries, to never speak up on such issues.

Dressed in an understated fashion and wearing a keffiyeh, Guardiola looked less like a football manager and more like he could be part of one of the groups about to perform. A stark contrast to his all-black outfit worn on the touchline for City’s home Champions League game against Galatasaray a day earlier.

“Good evening, As-salamu alaykum [peace be upon you],” Guardiola began.

“Over these last two years, when I see children in the images on social media and on television, crying and asking where their mother is, while she is buried under the rubble but they do not know it yet, I always wonder, ‘what must they be thinking?’

“I feel that we have abandoned them. I always imagine them saying, ‘Where are you? Come and help us,’ and so far we have not done that. 

“Perhaps because those in power are cowards, because they simply send innocent young people to kill innocent people. That is what cowards do.”

The rarity of public support from others working at the top level of his industry makes Guardiola’s voice an important one. It’s perhaps even more important considering the actions of his own employers.

There have been numerous reports that the UAE government, which also owns Manchester City and runs the wider City Football Group, have links to the genocide in Sudan through their support for the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), on top of a poor human rights record at home in Abu Dhabi and the UAE.

There have been protests outside City’s stadium about their involvement in Sudan, with signs reading: “UAE is committing genocide,” “hands off Sudan, boycott the UAE,” and “Sudan is not for sale.”

Man City chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak was also seen cosying up to Donald Trump at the US president’s “board of peace” in his role with the Emirati government, which drew criticism from City fans online.

This has led to accusations that Guardiola’s stance on Palestine is hypocritical, but it could also be said that it makes Guardiola’s decision to speak up even more important, especially as he mentioned Sudan specifically during a speech in June 2025 when he received a honorary degree from the University of Manchester.

“I’m deeply troubled by the images we’re seeing in real time in Sudan, Ukraine, Palestine, and Gaza,” Guardiola said on receiving the honour last year. 

“We see the horror of thousands of innocent families being killed, yet we’re surrounded by leaders who don’t consider the inequality and vulnerability of others.

“What we see in Gaza is so painful. It’s not about ideology, it’s about love of life and care for your neighbour… It’s about choice and refusing to be silent when it matters most.

“Maybe we think the boys and girls being killed by bombs, or being killed at hospitals because they’re not hospitals anymore, is not our business, but be careful, the next ones will be ours.”

In November, Guardiola called on fans to come out in force for a charity match between Palestine and Catalonia in Barcelona, and in his most recent speech on Thursday, reinforced his criticism of world leaders.

It was revealed this week that over 70,000 Palestinians have now been killed during the genocide in Gaza, and the official death toll since the “ceasefire” is getting close to 500.

The so-called ceasefire has provided an excuse for world leaders to brush the issue under the carpet somewhat, and also for sporting governing bodies to continue as if nothing had happened.

Prior to the announcement of a ceasefire, Uefa and Fifa were under increased pressure to act, but they now have an excuse not to.

Guardiola took the opportunity to remind the sport he works in that no progress has been made. 

“We must take a step forward,” he added.

“What bombs cause, or what they aim to cause, is silence, and for us to look the other way. 

“Their purpose is that we do not take a step forward, and this is what we must resist. We must not look the other way. We must get involved and participate.

“We stand before the world to show that we are on the side of the oppressed, who in this case is Palestine, but not Palestine alone, all causes.

“This is a manifesto for Palestine, and it is a manifesto for humanity.”