FCBARCELONA.CAT

28.09.2008 13:55

Barça say “no” to violence (II)

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The first team players, manager Josep Guardiola and president Joan Laporta have all expressed their repulsion at the incidents in the Lluís Companys during the derby between Espanyol and Barça.

The acts of violence during the Espanyol v Barça game on Saturday night, provoked by supporters carrying FC Barcelona symbols, have been condemned throughout the club. Both the players and coaches, and the president too, have said that they hope this kind of violence can be stamped out for good.

Barça’s efforts

President Joan Laporta denied that the club “is any way responsible” and added that FC Barcelona “have been implanting measures for six years to stop such behaviour in our stadium.”

Laporta also later defended himself following accusations from some of the supporters in the Lluís Companys blaming him for the behaviour of some of the Barça supporters. Said the president, “Barça take the right measures to stop violent people from getting into the Camp Nou”.

Guardiola speaks

In his press conference after the city derby, Josep Guardiola also condemned the violence, saying “it is very poor behaviour and I hope nothing like this ever happens again” and later added that Barça “are the first to denounce this kind of situation.”

Violence does nothing

One of the Barça players who was most disgusted by what happened was Dani Alves, who considers “it was too much”.

Along similar lines, Alves believes when people come to a stadium “they should come with the mentality and desire to support their team and leave everything else aside, because football is there to be enjoyed and not be stained by things like this.”

No room for violence

Gerard Piqué does not think that the incidents in the terraces should take the limelight from the actual match. “Anything other than football should not be the protagonist, and in this case it was.”

Also, Víctor Valdés and Andrés Iniesta agreed that “these things are ugly”, and that they should never be seen in a football stadium, where “the most important thing is the football.” Both felt the referee did the right thing, saying “he did well to stop the game so that it could all be calmed down.”