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Reports: Nou Camp could be closed Posted: Wednesday November 27, 2002 10:03 AMMADRID, Spain (AP) -- FC Barcelona's Camp Nou stadium may be shut for a number of games after the Spanish soccer federation charged the club for the crowd disorder which marred its league match with Real Madrid, news reports said Wednesday. However, a federation spokeswoman said Wednesday that before a decision is taken Barcelona has until Friday to present its defense. She said that any possible punishment -- either closure or a fine -- would be announced Friday or the following Tuesday, depending on what evidence the Catalan club chose to present. She added that Barcelona would then be free to appeal the federation's decision. On Saturday, Camp Nou spectators pelted Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo, a former Barcelona player, as he prepared to take corner kicks, leading referee Luis Medina Cantalejo to suspend the match for 13 minutes in the second half. The federation said Tuesday that the incidents would be treated within its categories of "serious" or "very serious" disorder. If it views the trouble as "serious", the federation can close a stadium from between one and three matches, while "very serious" disorder can result in a punishment which ranges between four matches to a year. In October, Sevilla was ordered to close its stadium for four matches due to crowd trouble, although the dates have yet to be decided. Sevilla's crosstown rival Real Betis was forced this season to play two home matches in Huelva and Madrid after serious disorder occurred at its stadium in March. The Camp Nou stadium has never been closed as a result of crowd trouble, although over recent years Barcelona has been fined three times. It was punished by the federation in 1997 after Madrid's Brazilian star Roberto Carlos was hit on the head by a lighter during a Supercup match. Two years ago, Barcelona was fined again after Figo was the target of projectiles on his return to the Camp Nou following his transfer to Madrid three months earlier. In April, UEFA fined Barcelona 200,000 Swiss Francs (US$ 120,000) after several objects were thrown onto the pitch in a Champions league match with Panathinaikos. The Greek team's goalkeeper Antonis Nikopolidis was hit by a burning piece of a flare.
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