Barcelona have called off a planned pre-match ceremony to honour their Spain internationals who won the World Cup, opting instead to fill Camp Nou with Catalan independence flags following a controversial police confrontation with fans at the weekend.
The tribute, proposed by the Spanish Football Federation and mirrored elsewhere in LaLiga this season, was scheduled to take place before Barcelona's first home fixture of the campaign against Athletic Club on Thursday night. It would have put the spotlight on players such as Lamine Yamal, summer signing Rodri, and Golden Boy award winner Pau Cubarsi, all part of Spain's triumphant World Cup squad.
However, club president Joan Laporta announced the ceremony would not go ahead, citing the club's discomfort with staging such an event given recent circumstances. The decision follows accusations that police used excessive force against a Barcelona supporter carrying a Catalan independence flag ahead of the club's LaLiga season opener against Elche last weekend, an incident the club described as