'Barca's future is in La Liga'

Oct 12, 2017 06:00 am

Barcelona must remain in Spain's La Liga, club general director Oscar Grau said yesterday following the signing by Catalan leaders of a declaration of independence.

"The budgets are based on participation in La Liga. I think that La Liga and Barca must continue together," Grau told a press conference at the unveiling of the club's 2016/2017 accounts.

Grau was speaking less than 24 hours after Catalan president Carles Puigdemont announced that he had accepted the mandate for "Catalonia to become an independent state" following the contested Oct 1 referendum.

La Liga president Javier Tebas has repeatedly insisted that Catalan teams would not be allowed to continue in La Liga after independence.

"If the rebellion succeeds, we will work for a league without Barcelona," Tebas told BeIN Sports Spain.

Tebas said Spain's sports law allows only teams from Spain and Andorra to participate in Spanish leagues. - AFP