Barcelona supports Catalonia’s independence vote

Barcelona's players try to stop the ball after a free kick. Andres Kudacki/AP

BARCELONA, Spain – Barcelona says it still supports Catalonia’s push to vote on secession from the rest of Spain despite warnings that independence would mean the club’s exclusion from the Spanish league.

Barcelona says it "was one of the first institutions to declare it was in favour of the right to decide."

Catalonia’s regional government wants to hold a nonbinding referendum on independence on Nov. 9. A Spanish court has suspended the vote to rule on its legality.

On Tuesday, the president of the Spanish football league said Barcelona and the other football teams in the northeastern region would be excluded from Spanish competitions if Catalonia became a separate state.

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