Javier Tebas: ‘Catalunya independence would break La Liga’

Spain’s sports minister Miguel Cardenal echoed Tebas’ concerns, explaining that Barcelona would have to ask to be registered for the league.

Elections will take place in the region next week and should a pro-independence party receive a majority they could announce plans for a vote to leave Spain.

Meanwhile, president of Spanish football federation Javier Tebas on Monday warned that Catalan independence would lead to Catalan clubs leaving the La Liga.

“With finances from television revenue in an independent Catalunya of eight million people you might become a team like Ajax, Celtic, Standard Liege, etc. Maybe get to the knockout stages or the quarter-finals of the Champions League, for example”. “Outside of the campaign we always have opinions, but right now the [political] parties are battling for votes and in those cases, Barca have always remained neutral”.

Only two clubs in Catalunya play in the top flight of La Liga: Barcelona and Espanyol.

The Camp Nou Stadium, Barcelona’s home ground, also saw fans of both Barcelona and Athletic Club Bilbao boo and whistle the Spanish national anthem before the final of the King’s Cup at the end of May, leading to further fines.

He tweeted in Spanish, saying: “If Spain is broken up, La Liga breaks too. Let’s hope to never arrive at something so absurd”.

Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu has avoided all comment on Catalonia’s push to vote on secession from the rest of Spain ahead of Sunday’s elections.

“Barca are not part of the electoral campaign”, Bartomeu told Canal Plus.

Now, we must play the waiting game while the election approaches because the outcome will have far-reaching consequences not only for Spain and Europe but also for football in the region as we have come to know it.