Pep Guardiola chuffed to see Catalonia referendum

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London, October 2: Pep Guardiola said he voted by post in Catalonia's non-binding independence referendum, and praised the role of FC Barcelona in the expression of the region's identity.

A vocally proud Catalan who has played for and managed Barcelona, the 46-year-old re-asserted the view that the vote wasn't necessarily about separatism but about the people expressing their will, reports the Independent.

"Barcelona were important because in the era of General Franco, our liberties were prohibited, when you couldn't speak Catalan, when you couldn't sing in Catalan, well, the stadium of Barca was a place where you could express what the people Catalonia wanted" Guardiola said.

"The Camp Nou was very important for this, like a lot of other institutions of Catalonia.

"But, I insist, tomorrow we don't ask... we don't vote on independence. Tomorrow, it's not about independence, it's about democracy, it's about what the people want to vote for, in the parliament of Catalonia, they decided that the majority want to vote, whether they want to live their lives, their future, in another way. Because the times... what happened in the 20th century is different to what happens in the 21st century.

"And the wishes of the people in the 21st century, our children, may be are different to our parents, because things have changed, society moves.

"So the Catalan people want to allow that the people speak, and by what better way than the ballot box?"