Four English Premier League clubs have treated pro-Palestinian staff and supporters “in ways that may breach the right to freedom of expression and/ or amount to discrimination”, War on Want said on Monday.
In a new report investigating English clubs’ complicity in Israel’s atrocities, the campaign group named Arsenal, Brighton, Burnley and Everton as clubs who had singled out staff or supporters in this way.
Following an investigation into clubs’ corporate ties and sponsorship deals, War on Want said that at least nine out of the 20 clubs in the Premier League are “directly sponsored by companies complicit in Israel’s atrocities”.
These clubs are Arsenal, Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton, Fulham, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
The report concluded that Liverpool, Arsenal, Tottenham, Manchester City and Manchester United were the clubs most emmeshed with companies facilitating Israeli atrocities.
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Arsenal, Fulham, both Manchester clubs and Newcastle United are also identified as being potentially implicated in Israeli apartheid and Israel’s genocide in Gaza “through the activities of their owners”.
“What remains unclear is why clubs and English football institutions can be so hostile to peaceful expressions of support and justice for Palestinians enduring genocide and apartheid,” Neil Sammonds, War on Want’s senior campaigner on Palestine, told Middle East Eye.
“Is it conscious or unconscious anti-Muslim or anti-Palestinian hatred? Is it support for Israel, or fear of upsetting people who support Israel? A lot more needs be done to understand this, and to challenge it.”
Sportswashing
The Premier League is broadcast in 200 countries, generates a revenue of over £10bn ($13.4bn) a year and is followed by up to two billion people worldwide.
With clubs owned by Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and a slew of US and other international investment vehicles, the league has for a long time been accused of selling the soul of English football, a traditionally working-class game, to the highest bidder.
‘What remains unclear is why clubs and English football institutions can be so hostile to peaceful expressions of support and justice for Palestinians’
– Neil Sammonds, War on Want
Many of the world’s largest companies operate in Israel, have profitable interests in Israeli-occupied territory and partnerships with the Israeli military.
In its report, titled Red Card: English Premier League sportswashing Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians, War on Want found that “at least 15 companies sponsoring EPL clubs are complicit in and profiteering from Israel’s genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid”.
It said that six tech and surveillance companies “facilitating genocide and apartheid” were sponsoring premier league teams: Canon, Cisco, Google/ Alphabet, HPE, Oracle and Sony.
Cisco, which has a “technology partnership” with Manchester City, provides servers, computing, cybersecurity tools and communication systems and equipment to the Israeli military and the Israeli police.
While Pep Guardiola, Manchester City’s manager, has been outspoken this season in his support for Palestinian rights, the club’s Emirati owners are close allies of Israel and stand accused of fuelling the war in Sudan through their support of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces.
AXA, BP, Eurobank, Evelyn Partners, HSBC and Standard Chartered, all of whom are sponsoring English clubs, are identified as “enabling Israel’s atrocities with finance and fuel”.
While BP provides crude oil to the Israeli military, the financial firms listed have all invested millions or billions of dollars in companies complicit in Israel’s atrocities.
Another sponsor, Coca Cola, has subsidiaries and licensees in Israel which have multiple facilities – including vineyards – in occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights.
Using UN databases and other publicly compiled material, War on Want named Google/Alphabet, Meta – owners of Facebook and WhatsApp – and Oracle, as well as Deel, Emirates, Etihad, Puma, Wix and X, as giving “other material and ideological support for Israel’s atrocities”.
Alphabet has contracts with Israel’s government to provide cloud storage and other core tech infrastructure to support data generated by Israel’s apartheid, military and population-control systems
Oracle, co-founded by arch Zionist Larry Ellison, “facilitated Israel’s ability to base its military operations on IT systems”, War on Want said. Oracle donated equipment to Israeli army units in Gaza during the genocide.
‘Smear campaign’ against Arsenal kitman
War on Want cited the case of Mark Bonnick, an Arsenal kitman who had worked at the club for 22 years.
Bonnick, who was later interviewed by Middle East Eye, had posted criticism of Israel’s conduct online and was abruptly fired on Christmas Eve 2024 after what appeared to be a “smear campaign led by a handful of politically motivated individuals making allegations of antisemitism against him”.
His initial suspension by Arsenal was covered by newspapers including The Times and The Guardian, which described Bonnick’s posts as “antisemitic”.
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The FA investigated the posts and found no misconduct. Arsenal also stated that they did not find any evidence of antisemitism, a view shared by Jewish anti-racism campaigners. He was nonetheless dismissed by Arsenal on the grounds that he had brought the club “into disrepute”.
“Arsenal appears to have prioritised seemingly prejudiced and racist views of those who targeted him online rather than its staff’s livelihood, wellbeing and rights – including the right to freedom of expression in support of people suffering genocide, illegal occupation and apartheid,” War on Want said.
At Brighton, season-ticket holder Roger Wade was banned for five years after he wore a Palestine t-shirt inside the stadium.
Tomer Hemed, an Israeli coach and mentor at the club’s academy, has received no censure for posting, in relation to Palestinians: “Human animals are not human!!! Monsters! Let them die a death of suffering!”
An Everton fan also alleged that she was not allowed entry into the club’s Hill Dickinson Stadium because she was wearing a Palestine-branded shirt, while Burnley have been accused of not taking sufficient action after a “player-care consultant” at the club appeared to “like” a post stating “Palestinians are an invented people” and “were created to be the biggest Jew haters on Earth”.
