Catalan independence is back on the agenda, but Barcelona needs La Liga... and vice versa

• • 0 comments
  • 12:57, 22 September 2015
• • Opinion
  • 
  • by EdMalyon

As elections draw closer, football has been dragged into the controversy

• 2659 Shares
• Share
• Tweet
• +1
• Pinterest

David Ramos

Which Camp are you in? Barcelona are trying to stay neutral amid talk of independence

As insults go, there are worse ones.
But it was more the pointed political gains to be made that were in the mind of Miguel Cardenal, the president of the Spanish Sports Council, when he took aim at Barcelona.
"Clubs' finances are decided by their TV revenues," he said, in discussing how Barcelona might fare in a Catalunyan league should they gain independence from Spain.

Getty

Double Dutch: Barcelona would end up just like Ajax if they weren't in La Liga, claims Cardenal

"In an independent Catalonia of eight million people, you could only be a team based around a youth system like Ajax, Celtic, Standard [Liege], etc... and they would at most reach the last 16 or quarter-finals of the Champions League, for example.”
Damning them with faint praise.
That the Spanish sports minister is even discussing the possibility of Barcelona playing in a separate league should ring some alarm bells. Most football fans will hope it is simple posturing, and there is certainly a lot of verbal chest-thrusting and feather preening going on.

LLUIS GENE/AFP/Getty Images

Two important: Football was always going to be dragged into the independence debate

But in the run-up to Sunday’s local elections this is likely to get stronger, with heavyweight political sentiment coming from both sides this week.
Where did all this start though? Well, the proper answer is around 1469 when Catalunya first passed into control of Castile with the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. This meant that the Catalans were ruled from Madrid and their powers were gradually eroded until the Catalan state was officially abolished in 1714.

Sagrada Familia: Catalans feel their culture and traditions are under attack

Since then, locals feel that their language and culture has been under attack - which it certainly was under the Franco dictatorship, at least - and now the move for independence is as strong as ever.

In an unofficial referendum last year, over 80% of voters polled in favour of independence. With an official one impossible while the Madrid government doesn’t agree, the fear is that major Catalan victories in Sunday’s elections would see the drawing up of a Catalan constitution and the region simply opting to secede and try to break away from Spain.

Demotix

March: Hundreds of thousands of Catalans attended a rally for independence last week

With a background of this, football has inevitably been dragged in as the president of La Liga, Javier Tebas, declared Barcelona (and Espanyol) would not be allowed to play in the Spanish league under any circumstances.

“They would not be allowed to play in La Liga because the law would not allow it.

Alex Caparros

League of two teams: Espanyol and Barca would have to play in a Catalan league

“Spanish sports law firmly establishes that the only other state from which clubs can take part in domestic competitions is Andorra.”
Tebas, for his part, affirmed his belief that “Catalunya will never separate from Spain,” but is keen to ensure that the Barcelona clubs know they wouldn’t be welcomed back into La Liga.

Rex Features

Viva La Liga? Barca would not be permitted in the Spanish leagues, claims Tebas

Barcelona, for their part, are trying to stay out of the discussion.
“We’re not entering the campaign,” said Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu. “We’re staying out of it and have amply demonstrated as much.
“I won’t comment [on staying in La Liga]. Away from the campaign we all have our opinions but there are parties striving to get votes right now and Barca will stay neutral, as ever, on this score.”

“Neutral, as ever” does seem a bit disingenuous.

Bart attack: Barca president Bartomeu claims the club are "neutral"

Barcelona as a club have benefited hugely from being a channel for people to declare their Catalan pride. Often they have been the great manifestation of Catalan cultural success and are indisputably the best-known product of the region around the world.
For them to claim that they are neutral in all of this is a bit rich, given their use of the Senyera flag as an away shirt in recent years among other obvious leans towards the cause.
Indeed, Cardenal claims Barcelona have been used as a political pawn by some.
"I have been saying for a while that the powers in Catalonia are using sport as a tool, and I am sure they have tried to capture Barca in this sense."

Getty

Partisan: Pep Guardiola receives the Catalan Parliament Gold Medal while coach of Barca

Paradoxically though, Barca would be the club that independence would most harm - assuming they couldn’t continue in La Liga. La Liga itself would be damaged by their departure, hence the posturing, but in the corridors of the Nou Camp they probably acknowledge that there is truth in the claims that they simply couldn’t maintain a superclub in a Catalan league and that they would become an Ajax or Celtic-level side.
As insults go there are worse ones, but occasionally it’s the home truths that are the most painful.
The fact is that Barcelona needs La Liga and La Liga needs Barcelona.