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Published 16:19 IST, February 26th 2021

Man City manager Pep Guardiola makes incredible £130,000 donation to fix patrol boat

Man City head coach Pep Guardiola generously donated £130,000 towards a charitable organization in 2018 to fix a patrol boat that rescues migrants.

Reported by: Arnold Dsouza
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Man City boss Pep Guardiola is believed to have donated over £130,000 from his own pocket to help repair a rescue boat that plucks desperate refugees from the Mediterranean. The jumper that the Catalan donned during the game against Arsenal on Sunday, revealed to be promoting the humanitarian charity Open Arms — the organisation that received Guardiola's financial boost in 2018. The Open Arms branding was also fully visible when Guardiola unzipped his coat for his post-match interview. 

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Pep Guardiola's generous donation towards Open Arms Charity

According to a report in The Athletic, Man City manager Pep Guardiola offered a generous £130,000 to charity organisation Open Arms to help fix a rescue boat in 2018. The Open Arms vessel, which is run by non-governmental organisation Proactiva Open Arms, had already rescued more than 5,000 desperate refugees and migrants from the sea, or from dangerous vessels trying to make the crossing from North Africa to Europe. However, at the time, the main vessel had been in dry dock for weeks in need of repairs until Guardiola offered to help out. 

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The funds were used to fix the boat and the founder of the Barcelona-based organisation, Oscar Camps, thanked Guardiola for his generosity. He said, "Guardiola came to us and offered us a donation of 150,000 euros from his own pocket. The support of various other athletes who also wanted to contribute helped us to achieve the goal of making the vessel active again.”

In fact, Guardiola has now been branding the organisation itself by wearing Open Arms hoodies during his team's matchdays. He donned the hoodie during Man City's 1-0 win over Arsenal on Sunday and then was spotted wearing the hoodie under his jacket during Man City's 2-0 win in UCL last 16 first leg game against Borussia Monchengladbach. The victory over Gladbach extended Man City's winning streak to 19 games across all competitions.

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Guardiola has also heaped praise on the Open Arms charity and said, "Open Arms has built a framework to protect these displaced people, both in the emergency stage when they are at sea but also in educating and supporting them on land. I want to do all I can to help ensure that the valuable work continues.” 

Man City are currently at the summit of the Premier League table, 10 points ahead of second-placed Man United after 25 games. They are also in the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and have a League Cup final encounter against Tottenham in April.

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Image Credits - Man City Instagram

Updated 16:20 IST, February 26th 2021