Guardiola and the Open Arms sweatshirt prove Lebron is right

Also on Saturday against West Ham, Guardiola showed off his Open Arms sweatshirt. This is the second time in the last month that he has worn it and in general this is the umpteenth time that he has made such public outings in favour of the Spanish NGO. Whether Guardiola is included in the political discourse is well known - he has repeatedly displayed the symbol of Catalunya, he who was born near Barcelona - as is his passion for fashion and attention to the choice of outfits. One more reason to understand how much it was not his choice to wear - in the Champions League against Borussia Monchengadbach - the coat with the giant City logo on his back. Clearly, it's a marketing issue. 

Because Guardiola, like many other sportsmen, knows the importance of his voice and of being a communication platform. So he knows he perfectly match with what Lebron James said answering to Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The AC Milan striker said, referring to Lebron, that "I don't like it when people who have a certain kind of status do politics at the same time" - referring to the basket player's initiatives on US politics and the themes of 'black lives matter' - "I play football because I'm the best at playing football, I'm not a politician: do what you're good at, do your job. It's the first mistake that makes those who become famous". And Lerbon replied: 

I will never shut up in the face of injustice. I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social injustice, racism, systematic voter suppression, things that go on in our community. Because I was a part of my community at one point and seeing the things that was going on and I know what’s going on still because I have a group of 300-plus kids at my school that’s going through the same thing and they need a voice. And I’m their voice. I’m their voice and I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that may be going on not only in my community but around this country and around the world"

 

 

Guardiola wears the Open Arms sweatshirt and does not care if he gets a fine (some European federations prohibit the display of any form of symbol). The grey (or red) sweatshirt with the words of Open Arms we saw her at a press conference, on the court, on her Twitter (and that of the NGO, who thanked the City coach). As The Athletic explains, the City coach is often in contact with NGO volunteers and in 2016 also participated in a video of them. Guardiola knows full well that City fans, for the most part, are also his fans. And that if many see that he wears that sweatshirt, many will support that cause -- or at least, they'll care. Just as many have noticed the value of Stone Island bosses when Guardiola weared a yellow sweater of the Italian brand in front of reporters. 

Guardiola's aesthetic satisfies a function that, in the communication sciences, is called diamesia. Instead of making public appeals or attending events, the former Bayern chooses to communicate through fashion, using only his image. As when he chose to wear the yellow ribbon as a sign of closeness to catalan diplomats imprisoned during the Barcelona riots in October 2017 (in that case, he took a fine from the English Federation). His spontaneity in displaying such an important and delicate symbol (for him) followed personal statements and participation in events in favor of the Catalan cause. He had never hidden his political thinking and aesthetically showed it casually during a complicated period.

That's why Lebron James is right. Sportsmen cannot stop to be such, but they must get out of their sphere of athletes to help. Racism, disability, sustainability, civil rights, imprisonment are all issues for which sportsmen and women could be decisive in certain cases. City understood this and fielded players and coaches with sweatshirts with the giant club logo on their backs. But how much more useful would it have been to send another kind of message?