Barcelona vs Las Palmas to go ahead behind closed doors in dramatic U-turn as club condemns violence towards independence protesters
Barca had tried to get out of playing the fixture but La Liga and Las Palmas refused to agree to a postponement
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.After a U-turn, Barcelona have decided they will fulfil their La Liga fixture against Las Palmas but behind closed doors.
The Nou Camp club had been pushing for a suspension but with police saying that the game should go ahead as usual they risked a three-point deduction, fine and a 3-0 loss if they didn't play the fixture.
A club statement read:
"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.
"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."
Barca officials met at 12.30 CET (11.30 BST) to decide on whether the game can be played against the Canary Islanders, and wanted it postponed only for La Liga to try and force them to play the game. La Liga is headed up by staunch right-wing nationalist Javier Tebas.
Las Palmas, for their part, had fanned the flames by adding a Spanish flag to their shirt for this fixture.
In a club statement they said: "Las Palmas could limited itself to being a mute witness to this historic crossroads or take action. We've opted for the latter.
"We've decided to add to our shirt a small Spanish flag and the today's date, to make clear our hopes for the future of this country."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments