Barcelona close the door on Catalonia vote debate
CLUB PREVENT FANS FROM ENTERING CAMP NOU FOR LAS PALMAS GAME
arcelona joined the protests against the Spanish government’s attempt to halt Catalonia’s independence vote by preventing fans from entering Camp Nou for the league game against Las Palmas.
The club made the decision to play behind closed doors after their request to postpone the game was denied by the La Liga. Barcelona said playing in an empty stadium was a way to show their discontent with the incidents in Catalonia.
Barcelona won the match 3-0 with two goals by Lionel Messi and one by Sergio Busquets.
“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.”
By day’s end, Catalonia’s health services said 844 people had been treated in hospitals for injuries, including two in serious condition, as Spanish authorities tried to stop the independence vote that the central government said was unconstitutional. Thirty-three police were also injured.
Barcelona had openly backed the referendum and criticised the Spanish government for trying to impede the vote.
‘Worst experience’
“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 felt prouder of the Catalonia.”
“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 their 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 I’ve never people of flag with the red and 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. “Given the exceptional nature of events, the Board of Directors have decided that the FC Barcelona first team game against Las Palmas will be played behind closed doors following the Professional Football League’s refusal to postpone the game.”
Barcelona made the closeddoors announcement with less than half an hour to kick-off.
Spanish media said that Barcelona vice president Carles Vilarrubi resigned after the club decided to play the game under these conditions. yellow