Spain’s sports minister, Pilar Alegria, has called for Israeli teams to be banned from international sporting events, drawing parallels with the widespread exclusion of Russian teams following the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Her comments, made during a radio interview with Cadena SER on Wednesday night, come amid growing protests in Spain over the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team in the ongoing Vuelta a Espana.
“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria said. “Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022.”
She referenced the blanket bans placed on Russian teams, noting that when Russian individuals competed, they did so under neutral flags and without national symbols.
Israel-Premier Tech, a private team owned by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams, is not a state entity, but its presence in the Vuelta has sparked outrage. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu publicly praised the team for continuing to compete in the face of protests.
Alegria said she would like to see Vuelta organisers block the team from the event but acknowledged that any decision would rest with cycling’s world governing body, the UCI.
Multiple stages of the Vuelta have already been disrupted by protests, with stages 11 and 16 shortened during racing and stage 18’s time trial also reduced in advance due to security concerns.
Despite the unrest, Alegria expressed hope that the race could be completed as planned, though she warned that Sunday’s final stage in Madrid is expected to be a major protest flashpoint.
“It would not be good news if the race cannot finish,” she said. “However, what we’re seeing these days with the protests is, in my opinion, logical. (The protests) are a clear representation of what the people feel. Sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.”
Spain’s coalition government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, has been among the most outspoken in Europe in criticising Israel’s offensive in Gaza, which it has described as a “genocide”. The stance has strained diplomatic relations with Israel.
Israel launched its military operation in Gaza in October 2023 in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas that left 1,219 people dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
In the months since, at least 64,600 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry. The United Nations considers these figures credible.
“(Israel) have killed more than 60,000 people, children, babies starving to death, hospitals destroyed,” said Alegria. “So it is important that sport, given this situation, takes a position at least similar to what it did against Russia.”
