Pep Guardiola ready to give up on ‘yellow ribbon’ Catalonia protest at Manchester City’s request

Pep Guardiola has admitted he would abandon his ‘yellow ribbon’ protest if requested to do so by his employers, Manchester City, or if he thought the issue was negatively impacting upon his players.

The Catalan manager has been charged by the Football Association over displaying the political symbol on the touchline during games, in contravention of the English governing body’s regulations and in spite of two official warnings.

The City boss has claimed his protest is not political, but humanitarian, although it relates to four Catalans currently being held in prison over the campaign for Catalan independence from Spain.

Although Guardiola has been backed in his position by City, he does concede that should that position change, he will abandon his ribbon protest.

And he would do likewise if he ever felt that the issue was beginning to affect his team.

“Yeah of course, the club is in front of (more important than) me,” Guardiola said ahead of last night’s league match with Arsenal.