FC Barcelona presidential candidates declare ​​their commitment to the separatist process

FC Barcelona’s presidential candidates—​​Josep Maria Bartomeu, Joan Laporta, Agustí Benedito and Toni Freixa—today signed a manifesto titled ‘Pledge for the Nation’, expressing the club’s commitment to lending its support to the Catalan people’s ‘right to decide’ and to the wishes expressed at the polls on 27 September. Barça’s history, the candidates said, is inextricably linked to that of Catalonia, which is the reason given for signing the pledge.
The manifesto is the brainchild of the separatist civil society groups Catalan National Assembly (ANC) and Òmnium Cultural, and of two groups that promote Catalan sports, Plataforma ProSeleccions Esportives Catalanes (Platform for Catalan Sports Teams) and Union of Catalan Sports Federations (UFEC).
The pledge will ensure that, whoever the winner is in tomorrow’s presidential elections, FC Barcelona and Catalonia will be on the same page following the 27-S elections. In addition, the club will actively support the initiatives undertaken by civil society groups in support of the Catalan language, culture, sports, and national teams.
The president of the ANC, Jordi Sánchez, stated that “the element that makes Barça stronger is its strong national roots. The image of the candidates committed to ‘the right to decide’ and to the nation in general makes Barça an even stronger club’. Sánchez hinted that today’s event will make ripples outside Catalonia.
For her part, Muriel Casals, president of Òmnium Cultural, said that ‘today’s event is very important for us and for the separatist process’; she noted that ‘politics is everything, and sports, like culture, has a lot to do with politics’.
‘Together, we will win!’ she added.