Barcelona scraps Spain World Cup tribute amid fans’ Catalan flag support

By The Associated Press. Published On 27 Aug 202627 Aug 2026.

Key points

• A Catalan organization handed out 10, 000 estelada flags outside the Camp Nou before Thursday's game.
• Instead, an act supporting the estelada organized by a local group took place at Camp Nou stadium.
• Before the match, a few thousand fans marched with the pro-independence symbols near the Camp Nou, according to local media.
• Laporta remarked it was not "the most appropriate moment" to offer the tribute to the Spain players, adding that "soccer must unite, not generate confrontations".
• Barcelona remarked it considered the "procedure used to detain one of our fans was disproportionate and that the use of force lacked the necessary justification and appropriateness".

Barcelona's World Cup winners with Spain were not honoured by the club at its first home game of the season since of an incident involving the "estelada" flag, Catalonia's pro-independence symbol.

Instead, an act supporting the estelada organized by a local group took place at Camp Nou stadium. It was laden with some 10, 000 small flags that were handed to fans before Thursday's match. There were additionally some substantial flags and a few banners being displayed in the stands.

Fans raised the flags during Barcelona's anthem. Before the match, a few thousand fans marched with the pro-independence symbols near the Camp Nou, according to local media.

Barcelona has eight World Cup champions in its squad, the most of any club, and it planned a tribute to them before its Spanish league home opener against Athletic Bilbao.

Other Spanish clubs, in partnership with the Spanish soccer federation, had honoured their own World Cup champions in tributes that included the displaying of the World Cup trophy and the presence of Spain coach Luis de la Fuente.

Barcelona remarked it didn't intend to go ahead with the tribute after one of its fans had an estelada flag taken away from him by police before the team's game at Elche last weekend. The young fan confronted the officers. This person hit him with batons before detaining him.

Meanwhile, the Catalan club remarked it regretted the confiscation of the flags from its fans, saying the estelada "is a legally endorsed symbol and its display constitutes a legitimate exercise of freedom of expression." It stated "it cannot in itself be considered an incitement to hatred or violence."

In practice, the incident rapidly escalated to the political sphere, with local politicians expressing their opinions.

In practice, a Catalan organization handed out 10, 000 estelada flags outside the Camp Nou before Thursday's game. Barcelona club president Joan Laporta highlighted the peaceful "act of exaltation of the estelada". It he remarked represented the Catalans' right to freedom of expression. Barcelona was not directly organizing the event.

Laporta remarked it was not "the most appropriate moment" to offer the tribute to the Spain players, adding that "soccer must unite, not generate confrontations". Laporta remarked the Spanish football federation understood the club's position.

In practice, the eight Barcelona players who supported Spain win its second World Cup trophy last month are Joan García, Eric García, Pedri, Pau Cubarsí, Gavi, Rodri, Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal.

For now, barcelona scraps Spain World Cup tribute amid fans' Catalan flag support remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.