Ciara Mageean said Israel should not have been allowed to compete at the European Athletics Championships because she believes the state was “committing genocide.”

She also said it was “ridiculous” that governments and sport have not imposed the same kind of sanctions on Israel that they imposed on Russia after the invasion of Ukraine.

In her remarks, she said she was speaking out against the killing of innocent civilians and insisted, “I’m not antisemitic.”

What she meant

  • She argued that speaking out against what she sees as war crimes should not be treated as more controversial than the violence itself.
  • She said she had received abusive messages online after sharing those views.
  • Her comments were framed as pro-Palestinian and anti-war, not as criticism of Judaism.

Current context

The comments resurfaced in June 2026 after interviews and coverage about her autobiography and the abuse she received online. The story has mainly been discussed as a sports-and-public-figures controversy rather than a technical athletics issue.

TL;DR: Mageean said she believes Israel should be sanctioned and barred from competition like Russia, because she views its actions in Gaza as genocide and war crimes.