In an exclusive interview with Washington Post, Bartomeu said that the club has "always defended, and will always defend, freedom of speech. Futbol Club Barcelona has never banned its members or fans from expressing their thoughts and feelings in a peaceful manner in our stadium or when supporting our team when they travel."

 “This is one of the values of our club and we are not going to change, even if they decide bad things against us,” Bartomeu said. 

 "We’ve been doing this for so long, why are you penalizing us now?", he asked after UEFA fined $33,000  on the club for  displaying pro-catalan independence flags at the UEFA Champions League Final  held in Berlin last month. 

 You can read the full interview here : FULL INTERVIEW