Barca will be kicked out of La Liga if Catalonia goes independent, warns league head
El Clasico - it's the first two dates every Spanish football fan looks out for when La Liga fixtures are released.
However, Spain's greatest sporting rivalry between Real Madrid and Barcelona could be ripped apart - by politics.
The Spanish Football League (LFP) will be forced to expel Barcelona and Espanyol from La Liga if Catalonia separates from Spain, according to LFP president Javier Tebas.
The autonomous northeastern region of Spain is set to make a decision on whether to go ahead with a referendum on independence on Nov 9 - a move that has been challenged by the Spanish government.
Legislation
Should a split happen, Catalonian teams like Barcelona and Espanyol will be forced to leave Spanish football unless laws are changed to accommodate them.
Speaking on Al Primer Torque, Tebas said: "Barcelona and Espanyol would not play in the Spanish league if Catalonia split from Spain.
"They wouldn't do so for the following reasons: the current legislation on sport dictates that there is only one non-Spanish state that may play in La Liga or in official Spanish competitions and that is Andorra.
"To change this, changes would have to be made in parliament and we would have to see if the affected party were in agreement or not."
Given Barcelona's popularity around the world, such a change will definitely hit Spanish football hard - really hard.
Source: Marca
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