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Pep Guardiola urges international community to support Catalonia’s proposed split from ‘authoritarian Spain’

On Friday, the regional government of Catalonia announced that the controversial but long-awaited referendum for its independence from Spain would be held on October 1.

Catalan president, Carles Puigdemont, announced that voters would be posed the formal question: “Do you want Catalonia to be an independent country in the form of a republic?”

On Sunday, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola addressed a gathering in Barcelona where he propounded the case for a referendum on Catalan independence.

Speaking on the steps of Montjuïc in front of around 40,000 fellow citizens, the former Barcelona manager read out a brief manifesto in Catalan, Spanish and English.