Pep Guardiola isn’t football’s woke crusader – he’s just speaking common sense | OneFootball

On a day when the Middle East descended into full-scale war, the sight of some Westerners failing to tolerate a minor inconvenience was on full display at Elland Road.

Israel and the United States killed Ayatollah Khamenei as they launched an attack on Iran and sent the world to hell in a hand-cart.

The Iranians responded by bombing several neighbouring countries. One of those targets was Dubai, as clips of expat Brits – who’d escaped the UK due to feeling ‘unsafe’ – sheltering in underground carparks flooded social media.

In that context, a football match between Leeds and Manchester City stopping for two minutes so Muslim players could break their fast during Ramadan is insignificant.

But, despite being explained on the big screens at Elland Road, a section of Leeds United supporters showcased their bigotry by booing the brief stoppage.

Feeble justifications appeared online after the game, mainly centred around religion being ‘forced down our throats’, which ignores how Reform UK are heavily promoting ‘Judeo-Christian values’ in a largely secular country.

They also trumpeted the ‘failure of multiculturalism’. Several of those who booed will have enjoyed a shawarma after the match, the hypocrisy entirely lost on their startlingly small minds.

And some decried how the 12th-minute stoppage occurred when Leeds were on top in the game. If that is your main grievance, then you have won the lottery of life.

Ramadan stoppages were introduced by the Premier League in 2021, to very little objection. The incident at Leeds five years later will only encourage more racists to out themselves.

We’re also seeing younger supporters starting to get sucked into right-wing populism and hateful propaganda through social media.

One group of young Leeds fans were pictured with a ‘Stop the Boats’ flag before last week’s match at Aston Villa. It’s depressing.

And that depression and weariness were laced through Pep Guardiola’s answer on the subject in his post-match interview.

“It is a modern world, right?” Guardiola said after City’s 1-0 win. “[You see] what is happening in the world today. Respect religion, diversity, that is the point.

“The Premier League says you can have one or two minutes, you can have for the [fasting] players to do it [break their fast]. It is what it is, unfortunately.

“We took on a little bit of vitamins because [Rayan] Cherki, [Rayan] Ait-Nouri did not eat today. No more than that. The question is, can they do it or not? What is the problem?”

Guardiola has been outspoken on several non-football issues recently, from the plight of the Palestinian people to the ongoing wars in Sudan and Ukraine.

“Wanting harm for another country? It hurts me. [To] completely kill thousands of innocent people, it hurts me,” he said last month about Gaza.

It’s no more complicated than that. No more. When you have an idea and you need to defend [it] and you have to kill thousands, thousands of people – I’m sorry, I will stand up.

“Always I will be there, always.”

Some have criticised him for this, telling the City manager to ‘stick to football’ or accusing him of hypocrisy. Football has never been divorced from the rest of society, despite its attraction as escapism.

The more worrying aspect is how Guardiola is being portrayed as ‘woke’ for having humanitarian concerns that should be common sense.

It’s an indication of how society has become increasingly mean and hateful that these views are disagreed with so openly.

It’s encouraging that Guardiola is speaking up. It’s hard to see another Premier League manager doing so, especially with such authority.

But we’re saddened that this basic level of compassion from a public figure feels so bold.