Tom Powell
BARCELONA would be kicked out of La Liga if Catalunya gains independence, according to the league president Javier Tebas and sports minister Miguel Cardenal.
The regional elections on September 27 are being seen as an unofficial referendum, with the nationalist parties set to unite and force the issue should they win a majority.
However, the Spanish constitution does not allow Catalunya to break away, and they would also face being kicked out of the EU.
Tebas posted on Twitter: “If Spain splits, La Liga does too. Let’s hope we never reach that absurd situation.”
While last week Cardenal stated: “It’s absurd to think that if Catalunya becomes independent, the club could ask to be registered by the Spanish federation.
“’The sporting aspiration of the Catalan clubs would be different. Barcelona, for example, would be a team like Ajax, Celtic or Standard Liege and would be doing well to get to the quarter-finals of the Champions League.
“It is not an argument based on scaremongering but on reality,” he added.
Many pro-independence Barcelona fans cite the existence of Welsh teams such as Swansea playing in the English leagues as hope they would still be able to compete in La Liga.
It is also clear that Barcelona leaving the league would equate to an enormous financial loss, and also a reduction in global appeal.
Money rules. There’s no way the massive cash generator that is Club Barcelona and Catalunya itself, would ever be “kicked out” of The League OR Europe.