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.”