Empty stands stark image
Barcelona throw support behind Catalan vote
Barcelona joined the protests against the Spanish government’s attempt to halt Catalonia’s independence vote yesterday by preventing fans from entering Camp Nou Stadium for its Spanish league game against Las Palmas.
The club made the decision to play behind closed doors after its request to postpone the game was denied by the Spanish league. Barcelona said playing in an empty stadium was a way to show its discontent with the incidents in Catalonia.
“We tried to suspend the game all day long but it wasn’t possible,” Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu said.
“We could lose points if we didn’t play, so we decided to play behind closed doors as a way to show the entire world that we were not pleased with what happened (in Catalonia).”
Officials said more than 460 people were injured yesterday in the north-eastern region as Spanish authorities tried to stop the independence vote that the central government said was unconstitutional. Barcelona had openly backed the referendum and criticised the Spanish government for trying to impede the vote.
“Today was my worst experience as a professional,” said Barcelona defender Gerard Pique, who couldn’t hold back tears as he talked about the incidents in Catalonia.
“It was a tough day. I am and I feel Catalan, and I’ve never felt prouder of the people of Catalonia.”
Pique, one of the most outspoken players defending the referendum, had called yesterday’s incidents “shameful.” Barcelona won the match 3-0 with two goals by Lionel Messi and one by Sergio Busquets.
“It was very strange,” Busquets said. “This game was marked by all that happened today (in Catalonia).”
Las Palmas added a Spanish flag to the shirts that the players wore against Barcelona to show its support for a unified Spain.
In Madrid, Real Madrid fans were handed cards with the Spanish flag colours and displayed them before the team’s match against Espanyol, another Catalan club. There were very few Espanyol fans at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, but they displayed at least one flag with the red and yellow colours of Catalonia.
Bartomeu said police had guaranteed the safety of fans and everyone else involved in the match at the Camp Nou, and the club could have allowed them in if it wanted.
“FC Barcelona condemns the events which have taken place in many parts of Catalonia today in order to prevent its citizens exercising their democratic right to free expression,” the club said in a statement.
Barcelona made the closed-doors announcement with less than a half hour to kickoff, with thousands of supporters already waiting outside the stadium.
“We were aware of what happened here today, we don’t live in an igloo,” Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said. “It was very difficult, a strange situation for everyone.”
The Spanish league said it was in contact with local authorities and there was no reason to postpone the game because of safety reasons.
Barcelona’s Nou Camp, Europe’s largest stadium with a capacity of nearly 100,000, is often used as a rallying point for Catalan nationalists.
Spanish media said that Barcelona vice president Carles Vilarrubi resigned after the club decided to play the game under these conditions.
Las Palmas said that the match had become more than a sporting event, especially because of the recent statements by Barcelona expressing its support for the referendum.
The Canary Islands club said the club did not want to limit itself to being a “quiet witness at an historic crossroads.”
It said that by wearing the flag it was showing its unequivocal support for a “united Spain.” NETHERLANDS