Guardiola to contest Catalan parliamentary elections

Former Barcelona football manager Pep Guardiola will be running for office in the forthcoming parliamentary elections that will be held in Catalonia in September this year.

The Bayern Munich coach will be lending his name to a coalition of separatist parties running under the umbrella parliamentary list Convergencia y Esquerra.

In what is mostly a symbolic act, Guardiola’s name will be “closing” the parliamentary list - his name will be the last on the ballot and it’s unlikely he’ll serve in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Barring a remarkable landslide vote, he will not gain office.

Guardiola has a huge public profile in Catalonia having won 14 titles in four years at Barcelona.

The list brings together a number of smaller separatist groups and having Guardiola’s name will add extra weight to the independence campaign.

Guardiola played for the Catalan national team - an unofficial squad that play friendly matches to raise the profile of Catalan independence.

El Pais reports Guardiola has no intention of serving in parliament but adding his name to the election ballot was a sign of support for Convergencia y Esquerra, who are campaigning to vote for independence in September.

The candidate list was officially launched on Monday evening but Guardiola did not attend as he is currently touring China with Bayern Munich.

The Guardian