Liverpool Tops League for Complicity in Israeli Genocide and Apartheid

Liverpool FC is top of the table, but not of a league to be proud of.

A 4-2 pasting at the hands of Aston Villa on Friday night affirmed the Reds’ mediocre season on the pitch. But, according to campaigners, Liverpool is number one in complicity in the Gaza genocide.

War on Want have published a league table of Premier League clubs’ ties to Israeli actions in Palestine.

Liverpool are ahead of north London rivals Arsenal and Spurs in joint second place.

Man United and Man City are tied in third place while the fourth spot is shared by Chelsea, Crystal Palace, Everton and Fulham.

The league table is part of a report entitled Red Card: English Premier League Complicity in Israel’s Atrocities Against the Palestinians. The report says at least 15 Premier League sponsors have connections to the military assault on Gaza, the construction of illegal settlements and the wider system of apartheid.

Liverpool’s shirt sponsor, Standard Chartered, provided $15.4bn (£11.5bn) to 24 complicit businesses between January and August 2025.

The Premier League itself is sponsored by Barclays bank, which the report says has provided billions to 49 complicit companies.

Neil Sammonds, senior campaigner on Palestine at War on Want, said: “These clubs speak proudly about equality, inclusion and community. Yet behind the branding, some are using ‘sportswashing’ to sanitise corporations connected to some of the gravest crimes and humanitarian catastrophes of our time. 

“Palestinian footballers are being killed. Stadiums are turned into detention camps. Child players are buried beneath rubble. 

“The Premier League has shown before that it can act when sponsorship becomes morally toxic. The question is why Palestinian lives appear to count for less.”