Guardiola relates golfers' yellow ribbon stance to Catalonia fight

Pep Guardiola has rallied support for the yellow ribbon movement by praising the golfers who wore the symbol in support of Jarrod Lyle.

Yellow ribbon controversy

Players including Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson at the 2018 US PGA Championship in August wore ribbons in their caps or sported yellow shirts in honour of Lyle, who died following a lengthy battle with leukaemia.

Guardiola has appeared in a video on social media to describe the golfers as "amazing" for showing "humanity to the rest of the world" through the gesture.

The Manchester City boss drew comparisons with his commitment to wearing a yellow ribbon throughout last season in support of imprisoned Catalan independence campaigners, which saw him fined by the Football Association in March.

"A few weeks ago, the best golfers in the world, Tiger Woods included, played a tournament in the United States and throughout the weekend they wore a yellow ribbon on their hats," he said in the footage tweeted by the official 'PepTeam' account.

"Why? Because Jarrod Lyle was fighting against tough, tough cancer. Players played for the yellow ribbon to be close to Jarrod and his family. These amazing players showed humanity to the rest of the world.

"A similar situation happened in Catalonia in the last few months. Thousands of people wear a yellow ribbon to show their humanity to women and men in jail for almost one year, normal citizens who are just defending ideas."

Guardiola fined for Catalonia support

Guardiola, who spoke in English and Catalan, ended by thanking campaigners for their backing ahead of Catalonia's National Day on September 11.

"So for September 11, all the friends of Catalonia who are here, thank you so much for your support," he said.

Last year, close to one million people marched in Barcelona on September 11 as part of a pro-independence rally.

Catalan politicians who favoured splitting from Spain were arrested in the build-up to the referendum on October 1, as part of a police operation ordered by the central government, which considered the vote for independence illegal.

Guardiola was fined £20,000 in March for wearing the ribbon after accepting an FA charge of "wearing a political message", although he vowed he would continue to show his support for those in prison.