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Barcelona cancels tribute to World Cup champions due to incident in Elche

FC Barcelona has decided to suspend the tribute to its World Cup-winning players and replace it with an event celebrating the estelada following a police action in Elche.

26 August 2026Tagblick Newsdesk

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Archive photo: Barcelona cancels tribute to World Cup champions due to incident in Elche — Archive photoPhoto: Barça TV , Barça TV · Wikimedia Commons · Public domain

This Thursday, FC Barcelona had scheduled a tribute for the players of the Spanish national team who won the World Cup, but the club has decided to cancel it. Instead, a celebration of the estelada will take place, as announced by president Joan Laporta.

The decision to change the tribute came in response to an incident that occurred last weekend in Elche, where a Barça fan was subjected to police brutality while displaying an estelada near the Martínez Valero stadium.

The Assemblea Nacional Catalana (ANC) has announced that it will distribute 10,000 esteladas outside Spotify Camp Nou during the match against Athletic Club, scheduled for 21:00, coinciding with the date of the canceled tribute.

According to information from RAC1, both FC Barcelona and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) were considering canceling the tribute before it was officially announced.

The club defends that the estelada is a legal symbol and that anyone has the right to display it peacefully, which aligns with the shift in focus toward an event promoting this independence symbol.

Thus, the event originally planned to honor the World Cup champions has been transformed into a manifestation of support for the independence flag, reflecting the existing tension among fans and the current political situation.

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