FC Barcelona decided yesterday to suspend the tribute that, together with the Spanish Federation, was going to be dedicated tonight to its eight world champions taking advantage of the match between the blaugrana team and Athletic Club at Spotify Camp Nou. The players are the Catalans Joan Garcia, Eric Garcia, Pau Cubarsí, Dani Olmo, and Lamine Yamal, as well as the Canarian Pedri, the Andalusian Gavi, and the Madrilenian, recently signed from Manchester City, Rodri.
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The measure, taken by president Joan Laporta as it concerns him as president, has surprised by its decisiveness and because it was Laporta himself who, also against expectations, made an appearance at the USA World Cup to unequivocally support Flick’s players and those of ‘la roja’ both with his presence and with his statements, rarely expressed by previous Barça presidents. “I come to support the Spanish national team against France; it is the moment to be here and give support. We have many Barça players, who surely if they reach the final will be very happy,” he said in Dallas before the semifinal match between Spain and France. Journalist Juanma Castaño (Cadena Cope) revealed hours before that match a conversation with Joan Laporta. With a return ticket for Monday (the day after the final) and facing the possibility that the Spanish national team would lose the semifinal, the president replied to the journalist: “What are you saying, man, we are going to win!”. Laporta’s unusual involvement in those days barely raised political dust; it was part of a favorable momentum for a football team that thrilled.
Within this framework of complicity between the Spanish national team and FC Barcelona, it was understood as natural to organize a tribute to the players who won the World Cup, an event that has ended up being held in various stadiums, including San Mamés, whose audience could express themselves freely: some applauded, others booed.
The brutal beating in Elche last Sunday of a Barcelona fan by the National Police near the Martínez Valero stadium changed the scenario. Joan Laporta called the young man, who turned out to be a minor, and his family to offer his support, the club issued a statement condemning the events and also condemned the confiscation of estelada flags upon entering the stadium when it is “a democratic and legal symbol that in no case can be considered inciting hatred or violence.” The images caused outrage among broad sectors of Catalan society, which were embraced by the Govern, led by socialists, political parties such as ERC and Junts, and associations like ANC and Òmnium, who announced they would take advantage of the Barça-Athletic celebration to organize “an act of exaltation of the estelada.” Barça announced yesterday the suspension of the tribute to the world champions because “the appropriate context is not given.”
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The change
The brutal beating in Elche of a Barcelona fan by the National Police changed the scenario
Making it clear that FC Barcelona is a club of Catalanist essence and that within that broad range of sensitivities, independence is integrated into the landscape, it is striking that an event focused on the footballers (not even the coach Luis de la Fuente and the Federation president, Rafael Louzán, were going to be present) is suspended.
The tribute allowed a couple of things: 1) the applause for some players (it was about honoring Lamine Yamal, Olmo, Cubarsí, and company) who have won a Football World Cup, the highest competition one can aspire to, representing a way of understanding football that further enhances the club and La Masia internationally in the first official contact of the season; and 2) the possibility that those who want to express themselves against it (with an estelada in hand or not; clarification: there are independence supporters who know how to distinguish whom they applaud and why without needing to be guided and whether that applause implies renouncing their principles or not) do so freely. Barça is a club, or should be, capable of embracing all culés without distinction as long as certain values are preserved, among which of course is not cheering police beatings but also not denying the importance of winning a World Cup. To make ourselves understood, if France wins the World Cup, then tribute to Koundé.
(Here the only incoherent thing is changing your shirt depending on where you are).
