Spain’s top football league warned yesterday that Barcelona will be barred from La Liga if Catalonia becomes independent from Spain.

La Liga president Javier Tebas said that Catalan clubs will not be allowed to play in the league if the north-eastern region breaks away following a contentious referendum planned for October 1.

Tebas said that a deal to keep Barcelona in La Liga would not be as simple as most people may think, and the club would be stuck playing in a Catalan league which “wouldn’t be much better than the Dutch league or something like that.”