Pep Guardiola: Manchester City coach asks, “Why shouldn’t I express what I feel?”

Last week, Guardiola gave a speech in support of Palestinian children at a charity event in his city of Barcelona.

He used the press conference ahead of Manchester City’s Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle to talk about the killing and injury of children in conflict zones around the world, saying the footage he sees “hurts me”.

He pointed to conflicts in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan and even recent shootings by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.

The Greater Manchester and District Jewish Representative Council said Manchester City had been “let down” by Guardiola “who repeatedly veered into commentary on international affairs”.

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Liverpool’s Premier League match on Sunday, Guardiola said: “Why shouldn’t I express how I feel, just because I’m a coach? I don’t agree with that but I fully respect all opinions.”

“What I basically said is how many conflicts are there now all over the world? How many? So many – I condemn them all.

“If there are innocent people [being] They were killed. I condemn them all and do not choose one being [more] More important than the other – not this country [more important] From the other.

“If you don’t understand my message, that’s okay. I can’t say otherwise.”

In response to a question whether he would now commit to talking about football, Guardiola replied: “Well, you focus on being a journalist and you cannot talk about the economy, because you are not an economic journalist.”

“[Being] In football, you don’t talk about this or that. That’s why the world stays silent, that’s what the world wants, right? Be quiet, don’t say anything.

“I think it’s quite the opposite, but anyway, it is what it is.”