Spanish giants Barcelona could possible leave La Liga if Catalonia gain independence, according to the club’s own president Josep Bartomeu.
Barca had reason to play their match against Las Palmas behind closed doors on the weekend due to violent protests that left a reported 840 people injured by law enforcement officers after their attempts to cast a vote in a banned referendum.
In quotes from Sky Sports, Bartomeu revealed that Barcelona could face a decision over the league they play in if the autonomous region of Catalonia gain their independence from Spain.
“In the case of independence, the club and the members would have to decide in which league we would play,” Bartomeu told reporters after a board meeting.
“We are going through difficult and complicated moments and with respect to what could happen in the future we will take it on with calm and wisdom.”
Gerard Figueras, the Catalan sports minister, recently claimed that the Catalan giants, as well as Espanyol and Girona, would have the option of changing league if they felt a need to.
“In the case of independence, Catalan teams in La Liga Barcelona, Espanyol and Girona will have to decide where they want to play: in the Spanish league or a neighbouring country like Italy, France or the (English) Premier League,” he explained.
This comes in the wake of the club coming out on top of a no confidence vote leveled against their board by former presidential candidate Agusti Bendito.
Bendito, who needed 16,570 member votes to see his motion go through, only received 12,504 by the Wednesday deadline set by the club, and he conceded defeat on Thursday.