FC Barcelona block Real Madrid fans from buying tickets to Liga F game

The match still has no official date, no start time, no referee, but it is already causing controversy. It has two teams and a stadium, but nothing else; no tickets can even be bought anymore: “Sold out” reads the website. No need for official confirmation, it seems, the interest is well and truly there.

On [insert date here] at [insert time here], FC Barcelona Femení will play Real Madrid femenino at the Estadi Johan Cruyff in what many call the ‘Clásico’ of women’s football (despite it actually being Atlético vs Barcelona). Even so, despite the lack of information, the game is already generating headlines with the warning that fans of any team other than Barcelona themselves will not be allowed to buy tickets to the game.

FC Barcelona Femení statement

“With the objective of safeguarding the effective separation of fan groups and preserving the event security, reads the statement on the FC Barcelona website, “fans of the visiting team will not able to acquire tickets in the zones reserved for home fans: the visiting fans must acquire tickets from their respective club. Access will be denied to home fan zones to anyone with clothing or symbols of the visiting team. If anyone enters the stadium with clothing or symbols of the visiting team they will be relocated or removed.”

There is no statement of any kind when trying to buy tickets for the other games on sale on the FC Barcelona website.

Women’s football in Spain is not like the men’s game: there is little, if any, fan hostility, something that is generally reflected on the pitch. Proposing the segregation of fans in women’s football might be an absurd decision that serves only to isolate and further stoke the fire behind two groups of fans that historically do not see eye to eye for many reasons.

However, it is also understandable that there is a sense of worry from the league in having Real Madrid fans occupy the home seats in Camp Nou, and especially given the fact that we saw a rise in tensions between Barça Femení and Real Madrid the last time the two played each other, partly caused by the rift in the national team. We will see if the gap between the two sets of players continues to grow, or whether the good spirit that generally washes through fútbol femenino in Spain continues to do its good work.