Pep Guardiola: I condemn any conflict where innocent people are killed

Pep Guardiola has responded to criticism of his comments on global conflicts by asserting that he condemned anything “when innocent people are killed”.

The Manchester City boss used his press conference ahead of their Carabao Cup semi-final second leg against Newcastle to reveal his outrage at what he branded the indefensible killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis by ICE, as he compared the death of the latter to seeing a nurse in the NHS gunned down on the grass.

Guardiola said he has to carry on speaking up to try and produce a better society, as he talked of his anguish at seeing images of what he called genocide in the Gaza Strip and deaths in Ukraine and Sudan.

It sparked outrage from Jewish community leaders, who felt Manchester City were “being let down by him repeatedly straying into commentary on international affairs” and called for Guardiola to “focus on football”.

The Spaniard has hit back by insisting his comments were hardly contentious and doubled down on his beliefs, saying: “To be honest I didn’t say anything special. I don’t feel that.

“I think why should I not express how I feel just because I am a manager? So I do not agree but I respect absolutely all opinions.

“What I said basically is how many conflicts there are right now around the globe or around the world. How many? A lot, right? I condemn all of them. All of them.

“When innocent people are killed, I condemn all of them.”