The statements of the Spanish government president appear a day after the last stage of the return to Spain on bicycle, with ending in Madrid, was abruptly interrupted 43 kilometers from the end due to pro-Palestinian protests
Spain Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez suggested this Monday at the Congress of Deputies the expulsion of Israeli teams of international sports competitions, like what occurred in 2022 with Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.
“We have seen how European governments are claiming that while barbarism lasts, Israel cannot use any international platform to whiten their presence. Sports organizations should be wondering if it is ethical that Israel continues to participate in international competitions. Why is Russia expelled after the invasion of Ukraine and Israel is not expelled after the invasion of Gaza?” Sánchez said.
The statements of the Spanish government president appear a day after the last stage of the return to Spain on bicycle, ending in Madrid, was abruptly interrupted 43 kilometers from the end due to pro-Palestinian protests.
According to data from the Spanish executive, about 100,000 people spoke into the capital against the presence of the Israelite team Israel – Premier Tech in the race ,. Protesters toppled the protective barriers that separated the viewers from the road and vandalized the provisional structures placed by the organization for the race.
Despite Vuelta, one of the three most important evidence by the world speeds calendar, being an important promotion vehicle and having a substantial weight in the country’s image abroad, Pedro Sánchez did not condemn the successive incidents that marked the race and which led to the cancellation and shortening of several stages and even. In the opposite direction, the Spanish Prime Minister applauded those who manifested and conditioned the race during the three weeks.
“We feel, as I said, a deep admiration and respect for our athletes, the cyclists of the return to Spain,” said Sánchez, before expressing his “immense respect and admiration for a Spanish civil society that mobilizes against injustice and defends their convictions in a peaceful way.”
“Spain shines as an example and proud. Take a step forward in defending human rights. We agree with a fair cause, how are human rights. Live the Spanish people!” Said Sánchez on Sunday, before the Madrid fiasco during a PSOE rally in Malaga.
Who was not very happy with the protests was the director of Vuelta, Javier Guillén. “I want to condemn what happened in the last step. It takes few comments about what we saw yesterday. The images talk for themselves and it is unacceptable what happened. This should not be repeated. We could have lived perfectly between demonstrations and sport,” Guillén said during an extraordinary press conference on Monday.
Javier Guillén, director of the return to Spain, at a press conference after the race on Monday (Daniel Gonzalez/EFE via Lusa)
Regarding Sánchez’s request, from excluding Israelite teams from international competitions, the director of Vuelta explained that he has no competence to make this decision, referring it to the International Cyclist Union (UCI).
“It is to UCI that it should be determined the participation and exclusion of teams in the races. We are out and we centered on what we had to do. We took a position of not entering a debate, which is legitimate. We explained to us. We spoke to UCI to see what would be done, they took a position in a statement, which was to keep Israel in the proof. Without its authorization, there were legal consequences. There is no federation that has vetoed Israel of its competitions, nor the European Union.
The case is extravasating sport and assumes important political contours. Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, leader of the Popular Party (PP) and the opposition, accused Sánchez of encouraging the protests that harmed the evidence.
“The government allowed and induced the non -finalization of Vuelta and thus an international ridicule broadcast on television worldwide,” Feijóo wrote in a statement released in X.
This is my way of defending the majority position of a civilized and democratic nation such as Spain.
– Alberto Núñez Feijóo (@nunezfeijoo)
Also the president of the community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, contested the position of the president of the Spanish government. “The message sent by the president, shooting fire to this situation, is intolerable. Of course, it is necessary to protest freely when it is considered necessary, but there are many places to do so, without coercing the sportsmen,” he said,
The Israeli government also marked a position, with Foreign Minister Gideon Saar calling Sánchez a “anti -Semitic.”
“Pedro Sánchez and his government – a shame for Spain!”, In one of the many publications he made about the theme.
