Manchester City's Guardiola charged for wearing political ribbon

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola wore a yellow ribbon on his jacket again this weekend, despite a charge and numerous warnings from the Football Association.

He was first charged on Friday for wearing the ribbon during City's 1-0 loss to Wigan Athletic in the FA Cup. He wore the ribbon again for City's 3-0 win Sunday against Arsenal in the Carabao Cup final at Wembley Stadium in London.

"Pep Guardiola has been charged for wearing a political message, specifically a yellow ribbon, in breach of The FA's kit and advertising regulations," the FA said in a news release on Friday.

"He has until 6 p.m. on Monday 5 March 2018 to respond to the charge."

Guardiola has worn the ribbon since November. It is a sign of support for members of the Catalan government who were jailed in October during a referendum calling for Catalonia's independence. The Spanish government called the referendum "illegal."

"Well, I accept if I broke the rules, I accept the fine," Guardiola told reporters after Sunday's match. "So I am a human being. It's terrible for humanity. They don't have weapons. The weapons they have are just the votes in the ballots. So that's why. So I said. It's always with me, always will be with me until the last...because it's not about politicians, it's about democracy; it's about helping the people who didn't do absolutely anything."

Sources told ESPN that the FA spoke to Guardiola twice about wearing the ribbon before he was charged.

Guardiola wore the yellow ribbon on the outside of his coat for some matches, but wore it partially under his jacket against Arsenal. He wore it openly in the post game news conference after removing his outer jacket.