There will be a referendum on Catalonian independence on November 9 and the Spanish FA president believes Barca and Espanyol will be ousted from the league if it passes Barcelona and Espanyol will be
ineligible to play in La Liga if Catalonia becomes an independent country, Spanish FA president Javier Tebas has
said.
A referendum will be held on November 9, with potentially destructive consequences for the 22 time Spanish champions and neighbours Espanyol.
“Barcelona and Espanyol would not play in the Spanish League if Catalonia becomes independent for the following reason: the Sports Act has an additional provision that only one non-Spanish state can play in La Liga or official Spanish competitions, and that is Andorra,” Tebas told Spanish radio station OndaCero.
Tebas conceded if Catalonia did become independent,
changes to the law secluding Barcelona and Espanyol from the league could be put on the agenda. “For that to take place there would need to be a change
in parliament and we’d need to see if the affected industry would agree or not,” Tebas said.
On the issue of match-fixing, Tebas confirmed the LFP were investigating a fixture between Elche and Malaga –
one of six matches under the microscope.
“I have not believed what has been said for some time now. I think it’s been increasingly evident in recent
times,” Tebas said.
“Some dressing rooms are taking extreme weight from above. I don’t know if Spanish football is prepared to
see a player go to jail for a year, but there will definitely be penalties, just like the ones you see in other countries.
“We are investigating the Elche-Malaga game, but this
one is a little different. We are looking at two [or] three players from the Malaga team but we’re not sure about
Elche yet.
“For the last four years, we’ve got six games that we’re investigating.
“People want us to have a clean game. I haven’t received a call from any manager who has taken issue
with what we’re planning to do.”