Spanish Federation open inquiry into Barca crowd trouble

The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) have opened an investigation into the crowd trouble that caused Saturday's match between Barcelona and Real Madrid to be held up for close to 15 minutes.

Barcelona now have 10 days to provide the Federation with evidence about the incidents before a final decision is made as to what action will be taken.

The possible punishments facing the Catalan club include a fine and the closure of their stadium.

The match against arch-rivals Real was suspended when Luis Figo, playing his second match at the Nou Camp since his transfer from Barcelona to Real Madrid in 2000, was subjected to a hail of missiles from the radical fans in the Barca crowd when he was taking a corner.

Figo was able to take the corner from the left-hand side of the field but when that resulted in another on the opposite side of the ground further objects were thrown and referee Luis Medina Cantalejo opted to halt the game. It resumed after 13 minutes and eventually ended in a goalless draw.

Items thrown at Figo included plastic bottles, some of them containing liquid, one glass bottle, golf balls and "all manner of objects", according to Medina Cantalejo's report, which was published on the RFEF website on Monday.

"None of the items hit Figo," the referee noted.

Barcelona president Joan Gaspart claimed after the game that Figo had provoked the crowd by deliberately cleaning up the debris around the corner flag before taking the corner, a suggestion that was laughed off by the player himself.