Israel-Premier Tech will race this week’s Tour Down Under in Australia to the backdrop of more protests over their participation.
The team, aiming to defend British rider Stephen Williams’ victory at the race last year, is aware of the protests and told road.cc this morning they “respect everyone’s right to free speech”, so the events “do not pose a problem”.
A spokesperson explained that the team has “worked closely with the race organisers and relevant parties to ensure that any protests do not impact the race, nor our right to participate”.
One such protest was arranged for Saturday’s pre-Tour Down Under criterium in Adelaide and a further protest is planned by the Australian Friends of Palestine Association (AFOPA) when Friday’s fourth stage finishes in Victor Harbor. On Saturday, away from the race, the Cyclists 4 Palestine group is also holding a protest in Sydney against the team’s participation.
Protesters have claimed Israel-Premier Tech’s presence at the race “breaches international law obligations to comprehensively sanction Israel” and demanded “Santos [the race’s lead sponsor] and Australian Government to break sporting ties with apartheid Israel”.
One of the groups planning protests, AFOPA, has told followers to avoid “obstructing or interfering” with the racing and has advised protesters to “stand back from the fence so that flags and placards do not stray over the fence putting cyclists at risk”. The group also urged followers to “not interfere with the public’s enjoyment of the event by blocking their view or by chanting”.
Ahead of Saturday’s criterium, AFOPA welcomed news of a ceasefire, but said it “is not enough”.
“There must be an end to the occupation of the Palestinians and an end to Israel’s apartheid regime,” the group said in a statement. “We continue our demands on the Australian Government to sanction Israel and implement measures to force Israel to obey international law.
“This ceasefire is all the more reason for us to come together to rally and march in protest at the inclusion of the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team in the Tour Down Under.”
Addressing the protests, an Israel-Premier Tech spokesperson today told road.cc: “Israel – Premier Tech respects everyone’s right to free speech so the protests planned at the Tour Down Under do not pose a problem. We are excited to race in Adelaide and are motivated to achieve our goal of defending the race title. We have worked closely with the race organisers and relevant parties to ensure that any protests do not impact the race, nor our right to participate.”
The team won last year’s Tour Down Under with Welsh rider Williams, who also won the final stage to Mount Lofty. Despite their name, the squad racing in Australia this week has no Israeli athletes competing, the team consisting of British rider Williams, two Australians, two Canadians, and two riders from New Zealand.
It will not be the first time the team has faced protests at a race. At last year’s Tour of Britain team staff were confronted by a pro-Palestine group.
Earlier in the season the team removed Israel’s name from their team’s vehicles as a “precautionary measure”. The UCI ProTour team of Chris Froome and Michael Woods told us they “continue to race proudly as Israel – Premier Tech” but took the decision to replace explicit mention of Israel with an “IPT monogram, comprised of the Star of David and the Premier Tech ‘PT’, on the team vehicles and other branded elements”.
The team referenced “a number of precautionary measures ahead of the 2024 season” which were taken to try to ensure rider safety amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, one such measure being that riders were given unmarked training kit in November.
In January 2024, the team’s most famous rider, four-time Tour de France winner Froome appeared in a video posted on social media by Israel’s Foreign Ministry and the official State of Israel to promote a cycling event to support Gaza hostages.
40 thoughts on “Israel-Premier Tech cycling team face more protests at Tour Down Under as campaigners call for “no sport with apartheid””
Your reminder that the IPT
Your reminder that the IPT team is NOT sponsored by the (abhorrent) Israeli government, but by a businessman. Unlike UAE and Bahrain teams, who are sponsored by (abhorrent) governments.
Russian teams are banned. So
Russian teams are banned. So Israeli teams should be too.
Either sport is neutral, and we let Russian and Israeli (registered) sports teams race, or we ban /all/ teams from countries that have active ICJ proceedings against them (never mind actual definitive rulings from said highest court that they have been engaging in the *war crime* of occupation for decades).
That would involve banning
That would involve banning Palestinian teams, given that ICJ is also prosecuting the government of Gaza.
I’m up for giving the Israeli government a very hard time, but why also involve any innocent Israeli citizen in this? Or in the case of the IPT owner, a Canadian-Israeli joint citizen.
the little onion wrote:
Complete whataboutery. Regardless, the same standards that apply to Russia should apply to Israel and the oh-so-many Palestinian teams we see on TV cycling in pro races.
IPT are explicitly registered as an Israeli team btw.
Have you not noticed that
Have you not noticed that Hamas has been boycotted for the last 20 years – which includes a blockade, regular massacres in Gaza by Israel and the occupier- Israel – controlling every aspect of life in Gaza. Gaza is a refugee camp and Palestine is occupied.
Last time I looked Russia was
Last time I looked Russia was banned due to state sponsored doping, not due to human rights violations.
NickSprink wrote:
That is not so, on March 1, 2022 the UCI banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and teams from international competition in response to the invasion of Ukraine; in 2023 they rescinded the ban on individual athletes but kept the ban on teams. Russia was previously banned by the IOC for state-sponsored doping, but that ban expired after the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics; the current Olympic ban (introduced 2023) is for “a blatant violation of the Olympic truce” for annexing Ukraine’s Olympic Federation.
A businessman who set up the
A businessman who set up the team to (in his own words), promote Israel. As soon as you put the country in the name of the team they become a representative for it.
They shouldn’t have been
They shouldn’t have been allowed to race under that team name or banner for a long time, but the UCI wouldn’t get involved, funny, it took them long enough to ban Russia and Belarus, but they managed that fine.
It doesn’t matter who they are sponsored or owned by, like the previous comment. They are promoting a “country” that is committing mass genocide unstopped and sometimes aided by others.
You could apply the same to
You could apply the same to Palestine, given that Hamas, who are also charged by the ICJ, are the government of Gaza. I’m up for a protest against the action of the Israeli government, and indeed, I’ve actually participated in some. But there is a slippage whereby all things Israeli are conflated with the actions of the government.
By the way, is there another country which you consider as a “country”?
I’m sure if there was a world
I’m sure if there was a world tour cycling team sponsored by a prominent Gazan businessman whose stated aim was to promote Hamas and its actions there would quite rightly be an outcry and they would not be allowed to compete. The founder of IPT quite clearly stated that its aim is to promote the nation of Israel globally, if you are promoting a nation you are de facto promoting its government and its actions. IPT is not just a team that happens to be Israeli, it’s a team that was specifically established to promote and support Israel.
the little onion wrote:
You win the Whataboutery award of the week.
Also I think you are confused. There is no ICJ case against Palestine. There is not only a case before the ICJ regarding the genocide in Gaza, but there had already been a previous case regarding the unlawful occupation of Palestinian territories, on which the ICJ ruled last year – Israel is committing the war crime of illegal occupation.
Additionally – and this where I think you have confused the ICJ and ICC – there are ICC arrest warrants out for notorious war criminals Benjamin Netanyahu Yoav Gallant, and Mohammed Deif (Hamas military commander). The latter is believed dead. The 2 former I hope will meet their natural end after the longest possible spell in the UN unit at Schevening prison.
Paul J]
I hope they do too.
the little onion wrote:
That didn’t really seem to bother anyone when we were dealing with apartheid South Africa, and it really shouldn’t bother anyone now.
The_Ewan wrote:
That didn’t really seem to bother anyone when we were dealing with apartheid South Africa, and it really shouldn’t bother anyone now.— the little onion
fair point. To be honest, Bahrain and UAE are much more like apartheid in the South African “separate development ” sense. We should boycott those teams. Israel’s government is far worse than apartheid.
the little onion wrote:
Exactly. I wonder why so many are OK with UAE and Bahrain competing when clearly they should not be there.
Mostly just pure ignorance
Mostly just pure ignorance
Oil money absolutely shouldn
Oil money absolutely shouldn’t be allowed in the sport. That includes Ineos
The_Ewan wrote:
That didn’t really seem to bother anyone when we were dealing with apartheid South Africa, and it really shouldn’t bother anyone now.— the little onion
Oh please do stop being logical.
The_Ewan wrote:
That didn’t really seem to bother anyone when we were dealing with apartheid South Africa, and it really shouldn’t bother anyone now.— the little onion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun_City_(song) ?
The_Ewan wrote:
That didn’t really seem to bother anyone when we were dealing with apartheid South Africa, and it really shouldn’t bother anyone now.— the little onion
False. Indeed, Pat McQuaid (who went on to head the UCI later), Sean Kelly and a couple of other riders were _banned_ from racing and all IOC sanctioned sports for 2 (initially 7) months because they went to race in SA in the 70s..
Respectfully, I think you
Respectfully, I think you have misread the comment: subject to the OP’s correction I believe they mean that we didn’t have a problem imposing sanctions on the whole of South Africa and anyone associated with the country, not just the government, in order to try to end apartheid, and we shouldn’t have any qualms about doing the same to Israel.
Rendel Harris wrote:
What I do find quite interesting is the hypocrisy in the calls to boycott IPT/Israel but the willingness to let UAE and Bahrain backed teams continue riding. Why is that? Because they are not Jewish, is it because UAE is a winning team with Pog on squad? Why? Consistency in our outrage would be good no? We see it all the time in other sports as well, soccer being a prime culprit.
Here in in NZ we have a sailing team sponsored by Emirates and we are happy to play cricket against Afghanistan, but not one single protest march against these abhorrent regimes, not one. Why is that? What is the defining factor in what gets protested against and what gets accepted? Religion, race, what is it?
ErnieC wrote:
I would say it’s mainly because there is a substantive difference between having oppressive human rights violations within a country’s own borders, egregious and disgusting as those are, and invading the territory of others against international law and countless UN resolutions and carrying out an effective genocide against non-combatant civilians, including women and children, in said territory. And no, it’s not because they’re Jewish, Russia is not notably Jewish is it and yet it also is being severely sanctioned for its illegal invasion of another country.
Rendel Harris wrote:
“I would say it’s mainly because there is a substantive difference between having oppressive human rights violations within a country’s own borders, egregious and disgusting as those are” …. yet we continued with sanctions against South Africa? Consistency is missing here. If we are going to get on that high horse it needs to be consistent in my view.
No. Firstly – who’s the
No. Maybe a nice aspiration but who’s the judge? (Some countries have decried some or all of the “global organisations”). Secondly I don’t think we can hope things at national level can be consistent, because international politics is not free from … politics.
But “we” on a smaller level – I have a feeling it’s in our interest overall to be even-handed. And I think pointing out the bad stuff is worthwhile even if it invites immediate charges of hypocrisy, or priveledge.
Even if that is mostly for “internal consumption”. I’m not personally going to stop any fighting abroad or guarantee anyone’s safety or land. I might contribute to some opinion that eventually reaches some in power and e.g. makes them pick something less politically or nationally selfish or with fewer “side effects”.
Sometimes the “impossible” can be improved. When young I never imagined that violence would decline in Ireland. But it is doing so … still, slowly.
chrisonabike wrote:
Agreed but I struggle to take seriously people who are are so skewed in their outrage – that just shouts bias to me.
Rendel Harris wrote:
I see that The Orange One has revoked all those sanctions on Israeli settler organisations…
Hammas would have nothing to
Hamas would have nothing to do if the Israeli’s weren’t on illegally occupied land
Veganpotter wrote:
with respect, that’s bollocks. Hamas is an offshoot of the Muslim brotherhood, founded in the 1920s. Genuinely a fascist-adjacent movement. They would still be nasty oppressive racists, even if Israel had never been created. They were violently antisemitic even before 1947
I despise the treatment of Palestiniens by Israel (and other Arab states) but let’s not pretend they are the only bad guys or the sole cause of al the problems.
Veganpotter wrote:
I am not so sure about and have a feeling they would still be trying for the total destruction of Israel even if they had their own state.
Indeed. However there is a
Indeed. However there is a chance they would not have as much local support if the people had any hope. (They would still likely have support from eg. Iran. Plus I’m not sure how easily people can forget all the terrible history).
chrisonabike wrote:
That’s a very good point, I remember once speaking to somebody who had volunteered in Gaza as a medic who said that the vast majority of the population would love to live in peace and would be perfectly happy with a two state solution and that support for Hamas would fall apart if one could be achieved but that while the population was under continuous attack from Israel they felt they had no choice but to support those who fought back. Just one person’s experience, obviously, but I thought it was quite striking. In our own backyard in Northern Ireland it has been demonstrated that if the right agreement can be forged then support for terrorists rapidly plummets; I recall the alarmists at the time of Good Friday saying that neither the IRA nor the UDF would ever give up their campaigns whatever agreements were reached, something that has (largely) been proved untrue.
Not as if the IRA was calling
Not as if the IRA was calling for the total destruction of England.
A very different situation I
A very different situation I think we can all agree – less violence and generally less of the extreme violence on all sides. Certainly a vastly lower body count – the numbers killed last year in Gaza is probably higher than the total of killed and injured for “the troubles” since the late 1960s (according to Wikipedia’s numbers).
I’m not a great optimist on this one but taking Rendel’s point is just that in another apparently “impossible” situation, somehow some change came to pass.
ErnieC wrote:
They were, however, calling for the total destruction of Northern Ireland as a country, the permanent removal of (what they saw as) an “invader” government and the return of (again, what they claimed was) “stolen” land to the indigenous people. These were all principles that they swore were inviolate and not up for negotiation, but in the end they backed away from them and a lasting peace solution was achieved. So there are significant parallels.
Teams shouldn’t be allowed to
Teams shouldn’t be allowed to race with Israeli money of any kind. The same is true with oil money in a sport that promotes a green agenda on the side. The US should also not be allowed to have teams because they’re the main reason Israel is able to do what they’re doing
Yes, it’s apartheid
Yes, it’s apartheid
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/5141/2022/en/
and it should be boycotted.
It’s worse than apartheid.
It’s worse than apartheid.
We should also be asking if
We should also be asking if XDS-Astana should be allowed to compete based on the persecution and genocide of the Uyghur people and other Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.