UK

Movement to remove Barclays from football gains momentum

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead

1 September, 2024
LEFT FOOT FORWARD

‘Football is supposed to be based on values of fairness and equality – a bank enabling grave human rights abuses has no place in the beautiful game.’

With the new football season underway, a movement urging the Premier League and Women’s Super League to sever their ties with Barclays Bank, citing the bank’s alleged involvement in funding companies linked to human rights abuses, is gaining traction. Activists argue that a sport built on values of fairness and equality should not be associated with an institution that they claim enables grave violations of these principles.

Barclays Bank has partnered with the Premier League for over 23 years and has been the first title sponsor of the Women’s Super League since 2019. However, recent revelations have sparked widespread calls for Barclays to be removed from football sponsorship altogether.

In recent months, Barclays has faced criticism over providing financial services to defence companies supplying Israel. In May, a report by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), Campaign Against Arms Trade, and War on Want, exposed Barclays’ financial ties to companies that produce weapons and military technology used in Israel’s attacks on Palestinians. According to the report, the bank invests over £100m in General Dynamics, which provides gun systems for the fighter jets used by Israel to bomb Gaza. It also invests £2.7mn in Elbit Systems, which supplies the Israeli military with armoured drones, munitions, and artillery weapons used in its attacks on Palestinians.

These findings have led to increasing criticism of Barclays. Following protests from activists, bands, and fans calling for a boycott of the bank, Barclays announced in June that it would suspend its sponsorship of all Live Nation festivals in 2024. This suspension, however, does not extend to the entirety of the bank’s five-year sponsorship deal with Live Nation, signed in 2023. The decision was welcomed by pro-Palestine and environmental groups, including Greenpeace UK. Areeba Hamid, co-executive director of Greenpeace UK, stated: “Live Nation have done the right thing by stepping away from their Barclays sponsorship. It’s time for Barclays to stop hiding behind the music and face it instead. This bank is the biggest fossil fuel funder in Europe, bankrolling oil and gas to the tune of billions of pounds and has now been linked to arms companies involved in the conflict in Gaza. By putting an end to the greenwashing, festival organisers are sending a clear signal to Barclays that it’s time they took responsibility for the destructive industries they fund.”

According to the campaign’s research, Barclays holds £2 billion in shares and provides financial services worth £6.1 billion to nine companies that supply weapons and military technology to Israel, which are used in attacks on Palestinians.

A letter signed by over 20,000 supporters has been sent to Premier League bosses, urging them to end their sponsorship deals with Barclays.

“The beautiful game should not be used to provide cover for a bank enabling grave violations of international law and human rights. Please confirm you will end the league’s sponsorship deal with Barclays, the letter concludes.