Jews Are Not Welcome. Little by Little, 1940
From Amateur Padel to an Antisemitic Mindset
Argentine amateur padel player Florencia Guerra Sodero was removed from the country’s delegation to an international tournament after publishing an antisemitic message on social media saying that Jews were “not welcome.”
The Asociación Pádel Argentino (APA) announced that Guerra Sodero would be excluded from the Argentine delegation to the Pan-American Club Championship in Asunción, Paraguay, and that disciplinary proceedings would be opened following the publication. The Argentine Olympic Committee also condemned the remarks, citing its commitment to combating discrimination in sport.
Guerra Sodero later apologized publicly, saying she took “total responsibility” for her words and acknowledging the harm and outrage caused by her publication.
The controversy, however, extended beyond the original post. Argentine media subsequently reported other publications attributed to Guerra Sodero that contained antisemitic references, bringing renewed attention to her previous social media activity.
The case has sparked a broader discussion about antisemitism in Argentine sport and about the line between an offensive social-media post and discrimination directed at an entire religious and ethnic community.
The distinction is important.
Criticism of Israel, its government or its policies is not, in itself, antisemitism. But telling Jews that they are not welcome because they are Jews is directed at people based on their identity, rather than at a political position.
That distinction is particularly relevant in Argentina, home to one of the largest Jewish communities in Latin America.
The country’s Jewish community has long been part of Argentine public life, culture, politics and society. At the same time, antisemitic incidents continue to be documented in the country, making public statements targeting Jews part of a broader concern rather than an isolated cultural disagreement.
Sport adds another dimension to the episode.
Guerra Sodero’s original context was not a political rally or a debate about the Middle East. It was amateur sport and the opportunity to represent Argentina internationally. Her removal therefore raises a basic question about what representing a country means when the person representing it publicly excludes part of that country’s population.
A national delegation is, by definition, supposed to represent a nation in its diversity.
Jews are part of that nation.
The controversy surrounding Guerra Sodero therefore goes beyond whether one athlete should or should not participate in a tournament. It illustrates how antisemitism can enter spaces that are not traditionally associated with political debate — including sports, social media and everyday interactions.
And perhaps that is precisely why the episode deserves attention.
Antisemitism does not always announce itself through extremist symbols or explicit threats. Sometimes, it appears in a short sentence posted between photographs of a sport, a competition and an ordinary day.
“Jews are not welcome.”
The sentence is short.
The history behind it is not.