FCBARCELONA.CAT

03.10.2008 13:32

Camp Nou to make a stand against violence

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona want to make Saturday’s game against Atlético Madrid at the Camp Nou a stand against violence. By means of the slogan “No to violence, zero tolerance” the club will be reiterating its opposition to violence in football.

The incidents, and what was said after them, in the derby last week at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, have led to a whole series of considerations that FC Barcelona wishes to share with its fans and members and subject to public opinion in general. In this sense, the club will be implanting a series of actions to make Saturday’s game a stand against violence.

Reading of a manifesto

When the players have finished their warm-up, a manifesto will be read over the loudspeaker system in the form of an extract of what is reproduced below:

1.- FC Barcelona rejects and condemns any form, conduct or expression of violence. Today and forever.

2.- The symbols, colours, crest and pride of our institution is the exclusive patrimony of those who love them and respect them both on and off the field of play, as has been the case for the last 109 years.

3.- The club’s history, rooted in good citizenship, civil duty and the defence of and commitments to our country are not compatible in any way with any endorsement of violence or uncivil behaviour. Out values are about coexistence.

For all these reasons, FC Barcelona wishes to make Saturday’s encounter at the Camp Nou with Atlético Madrid a serene, clear and unanimous response by the club and its fans to violence in football. We want the upcoming game to be a stand against violence, and an expression of who we are and how we live sport.

All kinds of people come to the ground, ‘both from the north and the south’ as the club anthem goes, but there is no room for violence or uncivil behaviour or any other form of conduct or expression that is not civil and respectful of the opposing team.

Our history has always made this clear, we are gentlemen, a peaceful people, and our cub is about togetherness. We have over one hundred years of history, in which we have always been committed to defending rights and liberties, respecting, upholding and promoting the civilian values that sport entails, as we learned from the testimony left by our founder, Joan Gamper, or our martyred ex-president, Josep Suñol i Garriga, two examples of the idea of sport and citizenship.

We can be proud of our 109 years and on Saturday at the Camp Nou we have to make yet another stand. We shall say no to violence. We shall yell that football is a game about passion and spectacle. A no to violence from the silent majority must prevail over the temptations to resort to violence felt by an undesirable minority.

Barça says yes to football because it says no to violence. Ours is a call for zero tolerance of those who do not understand that.