Red Card: English Premier League Sportswashing of Israel’s Atrocities against the Palestinians

At least 15 corporations that sponsor Premier League clubs – including AXA, BP, Cisco, Coca-Cola, Expedia/Hotels.com, HSBC, Standard Chartered, Oracle and Sony – are linked to Israel’s genocide and apartheid.

The football clubs, ranked in order of complicity, are: Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Brighton and Hove Albion and Burnley. But every club is indirectly sponsored by Barclays – the League’s main sponsor – which has long enabled apartheid.

This is sportswashing: from sponsor branding on shirts to advertising across stadiums, football clubs are promoting these corporations to millions of fans. Football should not be used to normalise genocide and apartheid.

Racism and discrimination in and around the Premier League are far from being kicked out; Premier League clubs have been intolerant of protest and peaceful support for Palestinian rights, even as Israel’s genocide and apartheid continue.

Red Card also shows how Palestinian football has been hit hard by Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid. Since October 2023, Israel has destroyed or damaged 265 sports facilities and killed at least 565 members of the Palestinian Football Association, including the “Palestinian Pelé”, Sulaiman al-Obaid. Despite this, Israel and Israel’s Football Association are being allowed to keep playing football as normal.

The Premier League, football clubs and the UK government must take action to show genocide and apartheid the red card.

Download the full briefing below.

For media enquiries contact: Niall Couper niall@coupercommunications.co.uk and Neil Sammonds nsammonds@waronwant.org.