The former Barcelona president said the Catalan club could have done more to ensure Saturday’s Clasico with Real Madrid went ahead as scheduled
Barcelona are responsible for the postponement of the Clasico against Real Madrid, according to the Catalan club’s former president Joan Laporta.
The clash between the two La Liga rivals was scheduled to be held on Saturday October 26, but the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) decided to reschedule the fixture due to civil unrest in Catalonia.
Demonstrations swept the city this month after nine Catalan separatist leaders were jailed for between nine and 13 years for their role in a referendum on Catalan independence that occurred in October 2017.
Those sentences sparked uproar across the country, with violent clashes taking place throughout Barcelona.
Both clubs agreed to push the game back to December 18 and the RFEF accepted the proposal, but La Liga responded by stating it was considering legal action over the decision.
Laporta, who was the president of Barca between 2003 and 2014, believes the match should have been played as initially planned and feels it is the Catalan side who are to blame for the postponement.
“Yes, [I would’ve played] the game on Saturday because if Real Madrid wanted to play then I don’t see the problem,” he said.
“The powers that be wanted to magnify what was happening for political reasons. [Barcelona] were mistaken because they criminalised a movement and put politics ahead of a football match that always has political connotations. It’s always been like this.
“They’ve played a game with the powers that rule football to make people from Barcelona and everyone look bad. La Liga made a strong move for it not to be played.
“La Liga had political interests to magnify a certain situation and exaggerate what happened. It’s the worst way of getting past what is happening. Barcelona are guilty in this situation.”
Laporta is not the only Barcelona figure who believes the rescheduling was wrong, as coach Ernesto Valverde also wanted the RFEF to stick to the original date.
“We want to play the Clasico with our fans on the 26th,” he said. “I see this as an opportunity for many people from here, for our fans, to show that it can be played perfectly in a natural way.”
With neither Barca nor Madrid in action, Granada went top of La Liga with a 1-0 win over Real Betis.
Reigning Spanish champions Barca are second and a point behind the leaders, having won six and drawn one of their first nine matches, while Madrid sit two points behind Granada.
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