Barcelona vice-president, Carles Vilarrubí has said that it is the club's "institutional duty" to ask everybody to "formally respect all anthems and institutions", but that it "cannot force people to behave in a certain way".

Vilarrubí revealed that Barcelona had received a letter from the Spain's Secretary of State for Security "asking" the club to ensure "there were no altercations which might have an adverse effect on state symbols", in reference to the possibility of fans booing the country's national anthem.

"We want to make it all about football and Saturday's event is a football match. Everyone is trying to use this game as a reason to focus on fans possibly booing the national anthem and that's not what it's about", said Vilarrubí, who said he thinks that "somebody is trying to blow things out of all proportion and turn the whole thing into a false debate". "Athletic and Barça want to make it all about football. It would a mistake to make it about anything else", he insisted.

Regarding any possible dissent by the public, Vilarrubí highlighted that the club is unable to "force people to behave in a certain way" and that the cup final is not organised around Barça. "We're guests and we've been asked to be responsible for how our 37,000 members behave. However, our members' individual institutional rights are precisely that, individual", he concluded.