Last Saturday's Barça-Las Palmas game, Hansi Flick's team played with a very important absence:La Grada d'Animació. The same thing happened in the Barça-Brest Champions League game.
The seats they usually occupy remained empty and the atmosphere was not what it had been on other occasions.
After deactivating the Boixos Nois, Joan Laporta now maintains a controversial dispute with Grada d´Animació.
21,000 Euros in Fines
The club is demanding payment of the 21,000 euros in fines it received last season. This is the result of the chants that came from its area.
The board doesn't want to take responsibility for their behavior. They don't want to pay and Laporta has decided to break the agreement.
The price is high. The Grada d´Animació is in charge of keeping the support for their team alive throughout the match.
These are the penyesAlmogàvers, Nostra Ensenya, Front 532 and Supporters Barça . The club no longer allows them inside Montjuïc.
As a result, they have reacted with a harsh statement against the current managers of the club. It speaks about reselling and practices by the club that don't benefit them.
This is the statement released by Grada d´Animació. The following is their version of the events:
The Statement from Grada d´Animació
"Dear members, penya supporters and culés:
"There have been many comments and opinions published in recent days regarding the closure of our chanting space. It is time for us to say ours.
"After decades of supporting the team during their best and, above all, their worst moments, at home and away, we have been deprived of celebrating and enjoying our 125th anniversary.
"This is not about economic sanctions that we don't want to pay. There's much more to it.
"Little by little, [Barça]members are losing the weight that they have always had historically, which is theirs.
"The poor communication and total lack of interest in the EDA[Espai d'Animació]. Proposals rejected without any argument, seeing how the usual resales are still allowed...
"Distorting the atmosphere of the soccer environment by filling the stadium with tourists. Waves of goal-less ties...
"Kiss cams", joke speakers, indecent prices, encouraging the absence of rivalries...
"Changing the club's historic colors for pure marketing. Making big decisions without transparency and without consulting the members...
"Persecution of any kind of chanting and opposing discourse...
"They are Selling the Club"
"Prioritizing the show without any room for emotional and family ties... Endless reasons that reveal the intentions of this board of directors. Prioritizing a business model that seriously harms the closest and most loyal members of the club.
"They are selling the club economically and socially.
"The closure of our area, of the stadium's voice, is another step toward the social death of the club. Either we react or they will end up destroying the most important thing we have.
"The dignity of the institution is not to be taken lightly, neither is the history of the club. The value of the crest and the feelings of the members and fans, even less so.
"We will fight for our rights as partners, like everyone else. It is in our hands."