Nou Camp faces closure over crowd violence

BARCELONA’S Nou Camp stadium could be closed for up to a month following the crowd violence that held up Saturday’s league game with Real Madrid, Spanish state television reported yesterday.

The Spanish government’s anti-violence commission has recommended the closure of the ground and a fine of 60,000 for the incidents, said the report.

That could see the Catalan club having to play two league games at a neutral venue as punishment for the bottles and other objects thrown from a section of radical fans towards Real’s former Barca player, Luis Figo.

Barcelona president Joan Gaspart, speaking after Saturday’s match, accused Figo of provoking the fans by slowly clearing away bottles from around the corner flag as he prepared to take his kick.

The anti-violence commission said Gaspart should face a disciplinary investigation for those comments.

Gaspart, speaking in Barcelona, changed his tone yesterday, describing what happened as unfortunate and saying the club would do everything to prevent a repeat.

“We deplore any anti-social act at the ground,” Gaspart told reporters. These unfortunate incidents will not happen again.”

The last time the commission recommended the closure of a ground, their advice was followed to the letter by Spain’s Football Federation (RFEF), who have the power to close a stadium for an entire season.

Earlier this season, the commission said Real Betis should face a month-long ground ban after flares were thrown at Sevilla supporters before a derby game. The RFEF later announced that Betis would have to play two league games at neutral venues.

The RFEF have already opened an investigation into the incidents during the Barcelona game, giving the Catalan club 10 days to present evidence or make any observations.

“Any possible sanction is still to be decided,” RFEF spokesman Fernando Sequeira said after the decision to investigate the trouble was announced.

Saturday’s match, which ended in a goal-less draw, was held up for a total of 12 minutes because of the hail of missiles that prevented Figo from taking a corner in the second half.

Plastic bottles, mobile phones, at least one glass bottle and even the head of a roast suckling pig were thrown at Figo, although the referee’s report noted that no player was hit by anything thrown from the crowd.

“Board secretary Josep María Coronas has made it clear that the club believes there are no justifiable, legal arguments for the incidents to be classed as ‘serious’ or ‘very serious’, within the federation rules,” read a statement on the Barcelona website.

“The physical well-being of the players and the referee was never in danger,” insisted the club.