Atlanta: Spanish football league La Liga has requested the Royal Spanish Football Federation to move the upcoming El Clasico match from Barcelona to Madrid due to the ongoing Catalan protests.
‘El Clasico’ is a name given to the match between Real Madrid and Barcelona. The game between both sides is scheduled to be played at Barcelona’s Camp Nou Stadium on October 26. But looking at the ongoing protests which have turned violent on occasions, the Spanish league has asked for the clash to be relocated at Real Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
“We have requested the competitions committee of the Spanish Football Federation to meet and change the location of El Clasico to Madrid because of exceptional circumstances beyond our control,” CNN quoted a La Liga spokesperson as saying. This request from La Liga officials comes after the imprisonment of nine Catalan independence leaders, who have received prison sentences of between nine and 13 years for their part in a failed 2017 attempt to split from Spain. Barcelona also issued a statement regarding the imprisonment of the leaders and tweeted: “Prison is not the solution”. If the match is moved from Barcelona, it would mean that the reverse El Clasico, scheduled for March 1, will be played in Barcelona rather than Madrid.
In La Liga, Real Madrid is currently placed at the top of the table. Barcelona is positioned at the second place. Barcelona coach Ernesto Valverde said Thursday he believes next weekend’s ‘El Clasico’ against Real Madrid will go ahead as planned at their Camp Nou stadium despite violent pro-separatist protests in Catalonia. (Agencies)
