Luís Figo has been invited to the Champions League match between FC Barcelona and Paris Saint-Germain on Wednesday evening, at 21:00 CEST, 20:00 BST, at the Lluís Companys stadium. Figo will go as a member of UEFA (he is Football Advisor of the European football body) and has appeared in other UEFA matches before, but his presence at a Barcelona home match has caused outrage among fans, as many still remember his "treason" when, after playing for five years in Barça (1995-2000), he signed for their biggest rival, Real Madrid.
The fact that Figo will witness the match at Barcelona's box has caused protests among fans, and they will likely boo him tonight. But Barça's president Joan Laporta wants to defuse the situation: "Figo is a member of the UEFA Board and for us, he is absolutely respectable. He was a Barça player, we remember the afternoons and nights of glory he gave us, then he made a decision, but life has gone on and evolved", Laporta said (via Mundo Deportivo).
"Figo is a member of UEFA and will be received with all the respect that is due", he stated. Despite Laporta's warm welcome (at least institutionally), Figo will likely receive some hostilities from other club figures in the stands, like former president Joan Gaspart, who said that he will not greet him.
Figo signed for Real Madrid in 2000, after Florentino Pérez made a promise to sign the Barça star if he was elected president. When Pérez was finally elected, he paid a then record exit clause of 10,000 million pesetas (around 60 million euros) and Figo became a Real Madrid player, shocking the world and leaving Barcelona fans devastated and angry... a wound that is still open to this day.