Barcelona have been given a €30,000 fine by UEFA for banners displayed by their fans during the Champions League final in Berlin.
A source confirmed that the sanction is a result of the presence of the Estelada, a flag flown by supporters of Catalan independence.
The fine is lower than it could have been as UEFA judged the flags to be ‘inappropriate’ rather than conveying a political, racist or xenophobic message.
Barca were also helped by the behaviour of their fans being rated as ‘excellent’ by the UEFA delegate responsible for filing a report on the win over Juventus.
The delegate also noted that the Catalan parliament doesn’t prohibit the Estelada, which differs from the Senyera as it features a triangle with a five-pointed star as well as the red-and-yellow stripes.
Barca were originally to be fined €75k and a partial stadium closure was possible, Mundo Deportivo note, before the lower figure was settled on by the committee for Control, Ethics and Discipline.
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