Catalunya independence would see break up of La Liga, says president Tebas

La Liga president Javier Tebas has given the clearest indication yet that Barcelona would not be able to play in the Spanish leagues if Catalunya were to become independent from Spain.

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.

Should that happen, and a yes vote be returned, Tebas says it would cause a break up in the league that would see Catalan clubs – like Barca and Espanyol – unable to participate.

“If Spain breaks up, so does La Liga,”  he wrote on Twitter. “We hope that we never reach such an absurd situation.”

Tebas’ comments fall in line with the views of Spain’s sports minister Miguel Cardenal, but Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu is staying out of the debate and says his club will not campaign either way should an independence election materialise.

“We have always spoken about sport,” he told Canal Plus on Sunday. 

“Now there are elections in Catalunya; next week there’s a vote, but Barca are not part of the electoral campaign. 

“If Cardenal is going to get involved in the electoral campaign, only he knows. It’s politics and it’s normal that he would, but we only talk about sport. Now we want to focus on winning games.”