Israel should be banned from sport: Spanish minister

Spanish Sports Minister Pilar Alegria has said Israeli teams should be banned from sport in the same way that Russian sides broadly were in 2022 after the country invaded 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. The Spanish 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...