…At What Cost?
As an adult, I have come to value those who stick to their word. In a world where people say anything and everything for attention or affection, people who can give you the god honest truth while keeping to their morals are to be cherished. “Més que un club” is not what drew me to Futbol Club Barcelona, but it is one of the reasons why I am proud to be a fan. Learning about the history of the club with how it’s tied into the fabric of Catalonia as well as Barcelona, gave me a newfound respect for my team and the region. It’s what gives games like the Joan Gamper Trophy that extra meaning. This past August, we hosted Brazilian side Chapecoense in a gesture of goodwill after the 2016 plane crash that took the lives of 71 people, including 21 players and staff. In an incredibly embarrassing summer, filled with drama, it was a match you could say was bigger than football. After this past Sunday, I cannot say that I feel the same way.
The First of October, was to be a day of democracy for the Catalan population. A referendum on Catalan independence was held. However you feel about the vote taking place, if there’s something we can all agree on, is that people in a democracy, should be able to freely vote under the circumstances. Unfortunately, there are people who do not agree and see the vote as antagonism. Without getting too into politics (this is a football blog after all), a day that was supposed to be one of exercise and reflection was tarnished by acts of violence. I won’t get into those committing the reprehensible acts, but I can get into the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional’s decision to not postpone FC Barcelona vs. Las Palmas at the Camp Nou.
A week in advance they were given the word that as the vote took place it could get violent, and that they should come with other solutions for the match. Instead, they ignored all advice and told Barça to go on with the match. They said that they decided to go ahead with the match because of information from the Mossos (Catalan police). Of course, they would advise there would be no problems, Catalan parliament closed off the vote to only citizens of the region. There are no expectations of people coming from other regions or the national police acting on behalf of whoever. In this day and age, the money is the motive, so the show must go on. I get it.
However, the ball is now in Futbol Club Barcelona’s court. Threatened with a three point docking for forfeiture of the game, as well as another three points for not playing, the club chose to play the game behind closed doors. And I get it, you don’t know what could happen if you let the fans in for a game under the circumstances of the day and you’re being threatened with a potential six point erasure in a season in which you’ve already amassed a seven point lead over your rivals. The show must go on. This isn’t to say that I agree. The club stood as a symbol of Catalan identity when it was illegal to be pro Catalan. This is why the club is ‘’més que in club”. The phrase isn’t hollow, it stands for something. Especially in recent years when you have kits based off of the senyera and you play games in kits against teams from the Basque Country in the colors of the ikurrina, you send a message of pride and autonomy.
On a day where the citizens of your city, your region are being beaten for expressing that pride and autonomy, the right thing to do is to stand behind them and take your punishments whatever they may be. This is what FC Barcelona was built on. Maybe that’s the romantic in me, but I like to think that when push comes to shove, people have principles they’ll stick to no matter what. Six points is a lot, but you can’t get on the two largest sports papers in the city proclaiming “El Barça Es La Envida Del Mundo”, only to show you have no faith in your team to recover from a setback. If anything, it only affirms your true feelings and your true thoughts that you didn’t do enough to address the needs of the locker room and coaching staff this past summer (I’ll get into greater detail on this soon).
It just confirms the idea that in this day and age, Barça isn’t a club from Catalonia, but a club based in Catalonia. And still I get it, there’s money to be made. The citizens of Barcelona and Catalonia are not the only ones that matter of course, (and there’s an argument to be had that they have a say in how things are run) but when you hear calls for the resignation of the board, only to dismiss these calls as ‘outside fans from USA and Saudi Arabia’, then don’t look after your own kind, you look foolish. You look weak. It was a cowardly stance to take on a day where your citizens needed a symbol to show that their choices weren’t in vain and that it meant something. When you stand for someone, you also stand for something. When you stand for no one, you also stand for nothing. Fresh off of a motion of censure against his board, as a president, Bartomeu had a chance to prove that he wasn’t just given the position off of the backs of hard work by others, but a man of his own volition. He once again chose the money.
There will be backlash against the club once international break is over. Hell, there’s currently backlash against Gerard Pique (again) for voicing his opinion that the people have a right to a vote. What the backlash leads to who knows. Once again the club is embroiled in tumultuous times and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. If there’s anything I can say to fans of the club outside of Spain, it’s to learn the history of the club. I know you may have been drawn to them for the glitz and glamor, but the club was founded with an identity, stripped of that identity for 36 years, and champions ‘més que in club’ because of it. You can’t “stick to sports” with Barça because sports is it’s politics. For the fans of the club inside Spain, I send my heartfelt sympathies to you, especially those that voted in the referendum. Even if the decision may get thrown out, your right to protest and voices at the ballot were heard. I just wish that those that are socis can also vote again to remove the spineless president soon. Visca el Barça I Visca Catalunya.
