La Liga denied permission to shift 'El Clasico' out of Barcelona

In a bizarre move, Spain's LaLiga has asked the country's football federation (RFER) to move the upcoming 'El Clasico' match from Barcelona to Madrid because of the ongoing Catalonian protests. The match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid is scheduled to be played on October 26, 2019 at the Camp. However, according to Spanish media reports, both Barcelona and Real Madrid have rejected this idea of the federation. The plan was to play the match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid's home ground.

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Catalan issue 

This request from LaLiga officials comes after the imprisonment of nine Catalan independence leaders, who received lengthy prison sentences of between nine and thirteen years for their part in a failed 2017 attempt to split from Spain. Three other defendants were found guilty of disobedience, fined and banned from public office for 20 months. The 'Los Blancos' (Real Madrid) had planned to travel the day before the match and halt in Barcelona that evening. However, it is feared that the protestors would see them as a possible target.

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The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement with roots in Catalan nationalism, which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain and, by extension, the independence of North Catalonia from France. This movement threatens constitutional order and its actions have been declared illegal on multiple occasions. There were attempts to initiate a referendum on the region in 2017. However, the move failed.  A similar attempt for referendum was made in 2014 by the people of Catalonia. Barcelona have also been impacted by the protests, with road closures and airport delays having forced the Catalan giants to find alternative routes ahead of Saturday's trip to Eibar.

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Previous encounters

Lase season, FC Barcelona defeated Real Madrid in both the games. It is believed that the upcoming match might get postponed by two months However, If the game was to be moved, it would mean the reverse El Clasico, scheduled for March 1, would be played in Barcelona, rather than in the Spanish capital.

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