Refusing to play Sunday would have cost Barcelona 6 points

Barcelona would have had six points deducted if the club refused to play Sunday against Las Palmas at the Camp Nou, club president Josep Maria Bartomeu told reporters, including Agence France-Presse's Kieran Canning.

Bartomeu revealed Barcelona was in favour of postponing the game as Catalan independence referendum protesters clash with Spanish authorities, but said the club was eager to avoid being deducted points - three points for not playing and another three as a result of a La Liga sanction.

"We are playing behind closed doors as a protest at what has happened, not for security reasons," Bartomeu said, according to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC. "Mossos (Catalan police force) have guaranteed security."

He added: "The important thing was to play the game, so as not to be docked points."

Up until half an hour before the game, there was confusion as to whether the match would go ahead.

(Photo courtesy: Action Images)

Hundreds of fans, presumably with tickets to the encounter, were held behind barriers as security officials waited for word over whether the match would be played.

It was eventually confirmed that the game would be played despite violence erupting in the Catalan capital.