Pep Guardiola exploits Prem loophole every Man City game to avoid £20k fine for Catalan ribbon
Spanish boss wears the yellow ribbon before and after the games, hiding it or taking it off for the 90 minutes
PEP Guardiola is running rings around Manchester City’s Premier League rivals.
But the Etihad chief is equally adept at side-stepping FA beaks over his support for Catalan independence.
Guardiola was fined £20,000 last season for continuing to wear a yellow ribbon, the symbol of supported for jailed leaders of the nationalist movement in his native province, on the touchline at Wigan.
The City boss was charged under Rule 12 A (4) of the FA handbook, which states: “The appearance on, or incorporation in, any item of Clothing (including Football Boots) of any distasteful, threatening, abusive, indecent, insulting, discriminatory or otherwise ethically or morally offensive message, or any political message, is prohibited.”
These regulations apply to “clubs, players, club officials or match officials” but only for the duration of games.
The rules, though, do not prevent such messages being worn before games - allowing players to wear anti-racism tee-shirts in their warm-up - or in post-match situations.
Guardiola has obeyed the regulations to the letter, either taking off his ribbon during games or keeping it hidden - he was more open about wearing a Marie Curie cancer bow - while in the dug-out.
But at pre-match press conferences and as soon as he is ready for his post-game appearances, Guardiola has made sure the Catalan symbol is there for the world to see his support.
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WHY DOES CATALONIA WANT INDEPENDENCE?
CATALONIA in the north-west of Spain is home to 7.5million residents and the country's second city, Barcelona.
It has a devolved government as well as its own language and culture.
In 2010 the country's constitutional court ruled that references to the "nation of Catalonia" had "no legal validity" prompting huge protests.
The wealthy region is a major education hub as well as a centre for finance, technology and exports.
The region represents a fifth of Spain's GDP and there is anger that the population pay more taxes to central government than are returned to the area.