Manchester City Manager, Pep Guardiola has been fined £20,000 and warned regarding his future conduct after accepting a Football Association charge of wearing a “political message”.
The count related to the Manchester City manager’s wearing of a yellow ribbon in support of imprisoned Catalan politicians during his side’s FA Cup defeat at Wigan Athletic on 19 February. Guardiola’s deposition pointed out that he had the ribbon covered before half-time and it only became visible accidentally during the second half.
An FA statement said: “Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been fined £20,000 and warned as to his future conduct after admitting an FA charge for wearing a political message, specifically a yellow ribbon, in breach of The FA’s kit and advertising regulation.”
The Catalan may continue to wear the ribbon for his pre- and post-game media duties but it remains to be seen if he will ensure it is covered during his 90 minutes on the touchline. The regulation refers to this time period.
The ribbon is in support of prisoners in Catalonia following November’s referendum regarding independence for the region.
Meanwhile, Guardiola has admitted he does not like playing on Mondays before City’s visit to Stoke. The last time City were in action on a Monday evening was their defeat at Wigan, though the manager says his aversion to playing a day or two after everyone else dates back to his time with Barcelona.
“It’s nothing to do with Wigan – the reason we lost there was that for 50 minutes it was 10 v 11 and we were not precise enough to find a goal,” Guardiola said. “I just prefer to play at the weekend, when all the other teams are playing. I have had some bad experiences on Mondays.”
Guardiola will take the opportunity of a blank Saturday to watch Manchester United v Liverpool, partly because United are among City’s next opponents. “We play them in two or three weeks so I intend to take a look,” the manager said, “But it is a big derby, an English classic, the history of both teams is amazing.”
Should United lose at Old Trafford the possibility exists that City could be crowned champions before the Manchester derby at the Etihad, though Guardiola does not like to look too far ahead. “The distance [we are ahead] is not normal in the beginning of March; it’s almost done but we are not the champions,” he said. “The champions are still Chelsea. We have to get the points as soon as possible, knowing that we have the opportunity. We need to be focused because Stoke away is always difficult. They are fighting to stay in the Premier League, and any time you are up against a team like that it is complicated.”
