Football
Dermot Corrigan, Madrid correspondent 10y

Barcelona deny "senyera" strip choice vs. Athletic Bilbao is political move

Barcelona vice-president Carles Vilarrubi has denied the club are politicising Saturday's La Liga clash with Athletic Bilbao by sending out their players wearing their jerseys featuring the Catalan red and yellow "senyera" colours.

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Barca have secured special permission from the Primera Liga authorities to wear their third strip for the game, which the club have said is a gesture to mark the 300th anniversary of the 1714 fall of the Catalan club to Spanish and French troops.

This year's "diada" traditional Catalan National Day celebrations are particularly emotive given the possibility of a Scotland-style referendum being held on Catalan independence in the coming months -- an idea which is rejected by the central Spanish government.

The change also means that Athletic are likely to play the game wearing their change strip that features the green, white and red colours of the Basque "ikurrina" flag -- another symbol unpopular with many in the establishment in Madrid.

However, Villarubi told El Periodico that the idea was to participate in a "festive" occasion, and not to antagonise anyone.

"We have already played with this jersey many times last season," he said. "The motive for asking for it now is that this is a festive week, but it is not a gesture against anyone, absolutely not."

Senior Barcelona figures took part in Thursday's "diada" celebrations, with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu and captain Xavi Hernandez making the traditional offering of flowers at the Rafael Casanovas Memorial in Barcelona.

Barca centre-back Gerard Pique also attended a huge gathering on Thursday evening in favour of a vote on Catalan self-determination. Pique tweeted a photo of himself and his young son amid the estimated 1.8 million-strong crowd on the city's Gran Via and Diagonal avenues which made an 11 kilometre-long 'V' symbol to show their support for a referendum being held.

Fans regularly chant "Independencia" 17 minutes and 14 seconds into games at the Camp Nou, with the practice now so ingrained that even the developers of the latest FIFA 2015 game have reportedly included it.

The club also recently renewed an agreement with the regional "generalitat" government to continue helping to promote Catalonia as a tourist destination.

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