Champions League: Barca face more UEFA sanctions
Spanish champions Barcelona face further
sanctions from UEFA after thousands of separatist Catalan flags were
flown at their Champions League opener against Celtic on Tuesday.
The Champions League anthem was drowned
out by a chorus of boos and chants in favour of Catalan independence,
whilst a large banner read: “Welcome to Catalonia.”
Barca were fined 150,000 euros
($170,000) by UEFA for the presence of the flags at the Camp Nou during
last season’s competition, 50,000 euros of which was suspended for two
years.
The club have previously stated their
anger at the fines as “totally unjust and…opposed to the exercise of the
freedom of expression.”
The flag, known locally as the
“Estelada”, which differentiates from the red and yellow Catalan flag by
the presence of a five-pointed star within a blue triangle, has in
recent years become a symbol of the independence movement within
Catalonia.
Thousands of flags were distributed
outside the ground by the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) to both sets
of supporters before kick-off.
However, UEFA considers it a political
symbol and fined Barcelona 40,000 euros after it was flown during a
Champions League group game against Bayer Leverkusen last September.
The club was also fined 30,000 euros in
July 2015 after it was flown during the Champions League final in Berlin
the previous month, where Barca beat Juventus to lift the trophy.
Celtic have also fallen foul of UEFA’s
intolerance for political symbols this season as they open disciplinary
proceedings after a section of Celtic’s support displayed Palestine
flags during a Champions League qualifier against Hapoel Beer-Sheva of
Israel.
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