Exclusive: How Bartomeu took the decision to play behind closed doors
Bartomeu and his board had agreed to take the six point hit for cancelling
However after speaking to the squad they changed their minds
How did Barcelona decide to play the game against Las Palmas behind closed doors? The decision was made public with less than 30 minutes to go before the game, and was made by Josep Maria Bartomeu in consensus with the squad and technical staff. A consensus which took Bartomeu and the board away from their initial posture.
Early
In a week as complicated as this, the story started well before the 4.15pm kick-off. First thing in the morning Bartomeu and his vice=oresidents met to discuss what was happening at the polling booths across Catalonia.
No lunch
Bartomeu and his directors decided to suspend their directors' lunch with Las Palmas and ask for the suspension of the game. There was pressure from some Catalan institutions telling them not to play the game too. Barcelona were told by the Mossos d'Esquadra (Catalan police) that the security of the match was secured.
La Liga say No
Barcelona asked the LFP to suspend the game but were told by Javier Tebas that not only could they not suspend it, if they did they would be docked six points. Despite the response, Bartomeu and the board were still sure they were going to suspend the game. With that idea in mind, the president went down to Camp Nou's dressing rooms to talk to the starff and players.
at the Camp Nou
In the intimacy of the dressing room was where the situation trained. The players were arriving and the first to express his opinion was Gerard Pique, who said the game should not be played under any circumstances, saying what happened at the polling booths was "a disgrace". Sergi Roberto agreed with Pique.
Leo talks
When the dressing room knew the sporting consequences of not playing, doubts formed. Messi spoke. The Argentine did not want to lose six points. Leo wanted to play with open doors "and see what happened".
If his had been the final decision and there had been a pitch invasion, the referee would have to suspend the game and Barcelona would pay a fine, and possibly serve a sanction, but they would not have lost the three points.
The third way
It was then that the president proposed a third option. Play behind closed doors. Captain Andres Iniesta and other players thought this was the best idea and Ernesto Valverde also believed it the most viable option. Bartomeu ended up taking it.
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