Barcelona scraps tribute to Spain World Cup winners. Act supporting Catalan symbol held instead

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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona's World Cup winners with Spain have not been honored by the club at its first home game of the season on Thursday because of an incident involving the “estelada” flag, Catalonia's pro-independence symbol.

Instead, an act supporting the estelada organized by a local group took place at Camp Nou stadium, which was laden with some 10,000 small flags that were handed to fans before the match. There were also some large flags and a few banners being displayed in the stands.

Fans raised the flags during Barcelona's anthem. Before the match, a few thousand fans marched with the pro-independence symbols near the Camp Nou, according to local media.

Barcelona has eight World Cup champions in its squad, the most of any club, and it planned a tribute to them before its Spanish league home opener against Athletic Bilbao.

Other Spanish clubs, in partnership with the Spanish soccer federation, had honored their own World Cup champions in tributes that included the displaying of the World Cup trophy and the presence of Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

Barcelona said it didn't intend to go ahead with the tribute after one of its fans had an estelada flag taken away from him by police before the team's game at Elche last weekend. The young fan confronted the officers, who hit him with batons before detaining him.

The Catalan club said it regretted the confiscation of the flags from its fans, saying the estelada "is a legally endorsed symbol and its display constitutes a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression." It said “it cannot in itself be considered an incitement to hatred or violence.”

Barcelona said it considered the “procedure used to detain one of our fans was disproportionate and that the use of force lacked the necessary justification and appropriateness.”

The incident quickly escalated to the political sphere, with local politicians expressing their opinions.

A Catalan organization handed out 10,000 estelada flags outside the Camp Nou before Thursday's game. Barcelona club president Joan Laporta highlighted the peaceful “act of exaltation of the estelada,” which he said represented the Catalans' right to freedom of expression. Barcelona was not directly organizing the event.

Laporta said it was not “the most appropriate moment” to offer the tribute to the Spain players, adding that “soccer must unite, not generate confrontations.”

Laporta said the Spanish soccer federation understood the club's position.

The eight Barcelona players who helped Spain win its second World Cup trophy last month are Joan García, Eric García, Pedri, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi, Rodri, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal.

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