September 16 – Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called for Israel to be excluded from international sports competitions over its actions in Gaza.
Following the pro-Palestine protests in the Vuelta that derailed the final stage of the famous cycling race in Madrid, Sánchez said on Monday: “Israel cannot continue to use any international platform to whitewash its image.
“The sports organisations should consider whether it’s ethical for Israel to keep participating in international competitions. Why expel Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and not expel Israel after the invasion of Gaza?
“Until the barbarity ends, neither Russia nor Israel should be in any international competition.”
The final stage of the Vuelta had to be cut short after protesters threw barriers on to the road and clashed with police near the finish line. The protesters were opposing the participation of Israeli team Israel Premier Tech in the Vuelta.
It was the culmination of repeated protests against the team’s participation. Israel Premier Tech removed their name from their jerseys, but remained in the race. Referring to the UCI rules, Vuelta race director Javier Guillén defended the decision to let the Israeli team stay in the race.
Sanchez’s words will carry weight, but in football, Israel has not been banned. At the last FIFA Congress in Paraguay, world football’s governing body kicked the issue of Israeli settlement clubs into the long grass, a tradition it has maintained for more than a decade.
The parallel with Russia’s exclusion has often been drawn. UEFA and FIFA were swift to condemn Russia after the invasion of Ukraine and the country remains banned from international competitions. When asked what the difference between Israel and Russia was at the last UEFA Congress in Belgrade, UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said: “If you speak about football, you can see the difference in the rankings, if you speak about politics, don’t ask me.”
UEFA secretary-general Theodore Theodoridis had previously argued that Israel, a UEFA member, is an entirely different case from Russia. “There was no such discussion or such intention from the UEFA administration,” said Theodoridis. “There are two completely different situations between the two countries. Don’t forget the start of the war in Russia and Ukraine and the start of what is happening now – which is regrettable, of course – in the Middle East.”
In recent weeks, the relationship between Spain and Israel has deteriorated after the Spanish government backed the protesters who had interrupted stages of the Vuelta. In 2023, Sanchez first expressed concerns about the civilian toll in Gaza and a year later, his government moved to acknowledge a Palestinian state.
Israel has regularly denied that the war in Gaza amounts to genocide, arguing that its actions are a means of self-defence following the October 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. On Tuesday, a United Nations commission of inquiry said that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
Contact the writer of this story, Samindra Kunti, at [email protected]