Israel should be banned from sports like Russia, says Spanish minister

Barcelona: Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria said late on Wednesday night that Israeli teams should be banned from sports in the same way that Rus...

Barcelona: Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria said late on Wednesday night that Israeli teams should be banned from sports in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, highlighting a “double standard”.

The presence of a team named Israel-Premier Tech at the Vuelta a Espana cycling grand tour has led to huge protests in Spain, whose government has described Israel’s offensive in Gaza as “a genocide”.

Israel-Premier Tech is a private outfit owned by billionaire Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams, not a state team, but has been hailed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for refusing to quit the Vuelta despite vehement protests.

“It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,” Alegria told Spanish radio station .

“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 added.