What should football fans do to avoid funding Israel's crimes?
A new report by War on Want highlights the links between the English Premier League and companies complicit in Israel's military occupation and genocide
There has never been an age with so much interest and attention in football. For football fans this can be considered a positive. Unlike a generation ago, it is infinitely easier to access verified news about your club or follow your favourite player on a slew of social media platforms. Adjacent content is no longer the remit of big broadcasters with normal fans putting out their own, often times superior product.
The interest and passion in football has led to an explosion of investment. Clubs, particularly those in the top flight of English football, are no longer run by a chairman plucked from the local business community. Instead, American hedge fund owners and state backed entities now sit atop some of the world’s most iconic clubs. They have brought bags of cash to fund ambitious sporting projects and have turned to multinationals for sponsorships. Gone are the days of a sponsorship from a local plumbing company or even something like Newcastle Brown Ale sponsoring Newcastle.
As money has taken over the game it has become prohibitively expensive with costs rising at the gate and in the gift shop, even TV subscriptions rates have exploded.
This makes the findings of War on Want’s report entitled Red Card: English Premier League sportswashing of Israel’s atrocities against the Palestinians even more depressing.
The report’s executive summary reads:
“By promoting these companies to fans and followers of the EPL, and by associating them with their clubs’ beloved names, the clubs aresportswashing1 the companies and normalising the atrocities. This is not only unethical but risks rendering them complicit in war crimes. Considerable work has been done to highlight the EPL’s sponsorship by other harmful sectors, including fossil fuels, gambling3 and alcohol. However very little has been done until now to highlight the EPL’s links with what are arguably the gravest and best-documented war crimes of this century, those carried out by Israel against the Palestinian people.”
A handy table was put together to highlight the worst offenders and companies that were complicit in Israel’s human rights violations:
While the report only covers the twenty clubs that competed in the 2025/26 English Premier League it is highly likely that clubs outside of the Premier League are also implicated.
Which leads us to the ultimate question: What should fans do to avoid associating and encouraging this behavior. The knee jerk reaction would to organize a boycott of some sort but given the emotional connection many have with their clubs that is unlikely to be effective.
One only has to look at the protests lodged against the Glazers at Manchester United to recognize the futility of such an endeavor
Football Palestine has put together a list of actions fans should consider taking to voice their displeasure:
1. Stop Purchasing Official Merchandise
If you are a fan of a big club there are many ways you can go about this. There are no shortage of options. Fans can buy back stock or second hand jerseys. There are websites that sell vintage style shirts and of course you can engage in the dark arts of buying a fake jersey from the likes of DHgate.
2. Cancel your TV subscription
There is nothing that irks the suits that run football more than the presence of fans who simply cannot afford to shell out close to $1,000 a year to watch their team’s Premier League and Champions League games. Fans have since resorted to illegal streaming sites to get their fix at a discount. There are even providers who will provide you with a device or Smart TV application to watch all the football you want at a tenth of the cost.
3. Unfollow the club on social media
Social media follows and likes are a very soft currency but if hundreds of thousands unfollow a brand it can send a very powerful message. Moreover, as the world has moved online social media following and engagement have provided an added revenue stream through monetization and brand partnerships.
4. Consider defecting
The vast majority of Liverpool fans are not from Liverpool. Arsenal fans are found in large numbers outside of North London and Manchester United are infamous for their base of support outside their home city.
If you are a fan of the Premier League chances are you do not reside in England and thus made a choice to support your current team. You could just as easily make the choice to support another team in your hometown. Yes, it means a drop in quality (although the EPL this season had no shortage of teams playing haram ball- including champions Arsenal) but you and your cohorts will be more valued.
You could just watch the game as a neutral and support Palestine during the international breaks. If that’s something that interests you, you can purchase a Palestine jersey below. Premium Subscribers get a 10% discount:
